The use of non-supported Fe nanoparticles in the hydrogenation of unsaturated C-C bonds is a green catalytic concept at the frontier between homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. Iron nanoparticles can be obtained by reducing Fe salts with strong reductants in various solvents. FeCl(3) reduced by 3 equivalents of EtMgCl forms an active catalyst for the hydrogenation of a range of olefins and...

Supported gold nanoparticles have recently been shown to possess intriguing catalytic activity for hydrogenation reactions, particularly for selective hydrogenation reactions. However, fundamental studies that can provide insight into the reaction mechanisms responsible for this activity have been largely lacking. In this tutorial review, we highlight several recent model experiments and theore...

Keywords: Model catalysis Nickel Palladium Platinum d-band Ethylene de-/hydrogenation a b s t r a c t Ethylene hydrogenation catalyzed at 300 K by 1–1.5 nm nanoparticles of Ni, Pd and Pt supported on MgO (1 0 0) with a narrow size-distribution, as well as the deactivation under reaction conditions at 400 K, was investigated with pulsed molecular beam experiments. Ni nanoparticles deactivate rea...

Optically active six-membered rings such as cyclohexanes and piperidines play an important role as biologically active building blocks and key intermediates in organic chemistry. Catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation of aromatic and heteroaromatic compounds is one of themost straightforward routes for the formation of these saturated or partially saturated molecules. Recently, tremendous progress ...

New insights into the structural, electronic and catalytic properties of Fe complexes are provided by a density functional theory study of model as well as real [Fe(II)(H)(2)(diphosphine)(diamine)] systems. Calculations conducted using several different functionals on the trans- and cis-isomers of [Fe(II)(H)(2)(S-xylbinap)(S,S-dpen)] complexes show that, as with the [Ru(II)(H)(2)(diphosphine)(d...

We describe the synthesis of a cobalt(I)-N2 complex (2) supported by a meridional bis-phosphino-boryl (PBP) ligand. Complex 2 undergoes a clean reaction with 2 equiv of dihydrogen to afford a dihydridoboratocobalt dihydride (3). The ability of boron to switch between a boryl and a dihydridoborate conformation makes possible the reversible conversion of 2 and 3. Complex 3 reacts with HMe2N-BH3 t...

Four gram-negative bacterial species, including Escherichia coli strain B, Serratia marcescens, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Vibrio cholerae (comma) strain NIH 41, were investigated for fatty acid content by gas-liquid chromatography involving a preparatory technique which facilitated detection of cyclopropane fatty acids. Methyl esters of fatty acids were subjected to mild catalytic hydrogenat...

Using MeN=CMe(2) as an imine model, computational chemistry has been applied to design metal-free hydrogenation catalysts. The implementation includes designing proper electronic structures to split H(2) and building appropriate chemical scaffolds to prevent possible side reactions which may deactivate the catalysts. Interestingly, the designed catalysts bear resemblances to the well-known meta...