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Updated: Mar 16, 2026

A Microwave-Assisted Direct Heteroarylation of Ketones Using Transition Metal Catalysis
Published on: February 16, 2020
Nickel-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation of ketones using ethanol as a solvent and a hydrogen donor
Nahury Castellanos-Blanco1, Alma Arévalo, Juventino J García
1Facultad de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Interior, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City 04510, Mexico. juvent@unam.mx.
Abstract:
We report a nickel(0)-catalyzed direct transfer hydrogenation (TH) of a variety of alkyl-aryl, diaryl, and aliphatic ketones with ethanol. This protocol implies a reaction in which a primary alcohol serves as a hydrogen atom source and solvent in a one-pot reaction without any added base. The catalytic activity of the nickel complex [(dcype)Ni(COD)] (e) (dcype: 1,2-bis(dicyclohexyl-phosphine)ethane, COD: 1,5-cyclooctadiene), towards transfer hydrogenation (TH) of carbonyl compounds using ethanol as the hydrogen donor was assessed using a broad scope of ketones, giving excellent results (up to 99% yield) compared to other homogeneous phosphine-nickel catalysts. Control experiments and a mercury poisoning experiment support a homogeneous catalytic system; the yield of the secondary alcohols formed in the TH reaction was monitored by gas chromatography (GC) and NMR spectroscopy.
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