Research: Catalytic H2-mediated bond forming reactions
I. Interception of reactive intermediates from catalytic (transfer) hydrogenations
One of the main research programs in the group is aimed at the development of H2-mediated C-C or C-Heteroatom bond forming reactions. In such processes, a formal (transfer) hydrogenation is interrupted by a desired bodn forming reaction. Such processes are of interest as they circumvent the use of commonly employed stoichiometric organometallic reagents, which produce a stoichiometric amount of waste for every turnover. This research area bridges from ligand design and organometallic chemistry to method development in organic chemistry.
In this manner, we are researching C-C bond forming reaction (as “interrupted” alkyne semihydrogenations) or C-Heteroatom bond forming reaction (as “interrupted” alkyne transfer semihydrogenation reactions.) Key to both transformations is the fact that highly functionalized products bearing several functional groups for further modification, are made accessible in a (transfer) hydrogenative or H2-driven manner.
See for example: Org. Lett. 2018, 20, 4926; ACS Catal. 2023, DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.3c03141.
For a general review on trapping of catalytic intermediates from hydrogenation reactions, see: Synthesis 2020, 52, 2483
