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Updated: Nov 4, 2025

A Microwave-Assisted Direct Heteroarylation of Ketones Using Transition Metal Catalysis
Published on: February 16, 2020
Manganese-Catalyzed Hydrogenation of Ketones under Mild and Base-free Conditions
Stefan Weber1, Julian Brünig1, Luis F Veiros2
1Institute of Applied Synthetic Chemistry, Vienna University of Technology, Getreidemarkt 9, Vienna A-1060, Austria.
Abstract:
In this paper, several Mn(I) complexes were applied as catalysts for the homogeneous hydrogenation of ketones. The most active precatalyst is the bench-stable alkyl bisphosphine Mn(I) complex fac-[Mn(dippe) (CO)3(CH2CH2CH3)]. The reaction proceeds at room temperature under base-free conditions with a catalyst loading of 3 mol % and a hydrogen pressure of 10 bar. A temperature-dependent selectivity for the reduction of α,β-unsaturated carbonyls was observed. At room temperature, the carbonyl group was selectively hydrogenated, while the C=C bond stayed intact. At 60 °C, fully saturated systems were obtained. A plausible mechanism based on DFT calculations which involves an inner-sphere hydride transfer is proposed.
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