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Updated: May 24, 2026

Synthesis of Metal Nanoparticles Supported on Carbon Nanotube with Doped Co and N Atoms and its Catalytic Applications in Hydrogen Production
Published on: December 6, 2021
Reversible H2 addition across a nickel-borane unit as a promising strategy for catalysis
W Hill Harman1, Jonas C Peters
1Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, United States.
Abstract:
We report the synthesis and characterization of a series of nickel complexes of the chelating diphosphine-borane ligands ArB(o-Ph(2)PC(6)H(4))(2) ([(Ar)DPB(Ph)]; Ar = Ph, Mes). The [(Ar)DPB(Ph)] framework supports pseudo-tetrahedral nickel complexes featuring η(2)-B,C coordination from the ligand backbone. For the B-phenyl derivative, the THF adduct [(Ph)DPB(Ph)]Ni(THF) has been characterized by X-ray diffraction and features a very short interaction between nickel and the η(2)-B,C ligand. For the B-mesityl derivative, the reduced nickel complex [(Mes)DPB(Ph)]Ni is isolated as a pseudo-three-coordinate "naked" species that undergoes reversible, nearly thermoneutral oxidative addition of dihydrogen to give a borohydrido-hydride complex of nickel(II) which has been characterized in solution by multinuclear NMR. Furthermore, [(Mes)DPB(Ph)]Ni is an efficient catalyst for the hydrogenation of olefin substrates under mild conditions.
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