The synthesis of renewable fuels from abundant water or the greenhouse gas CO2 is a major step toward creating sustainable and scalable energy storage technologies. In the last few decades, much attention has focused on the development of nonprecious metal-based catalysts and, in more recent years, their integration in solid-state support materials and devices that operate in water. This review surveys the literature on 3d metal-based molecular catalysts and focuses on their immobilization on heterogeneous solid-state supports for electro-, photo-, and photoelectrocatalytic synthesis of fuels in aqueous media. The first sections highlight benchmark homogeneous systems using proton and CO2 reducing 3d transition metal catalysts as well as commonly employed methods for catalyst immobilization, including a discussion of supporting materials and anchoring groups. The subsequent sections elaborate on productive associations between molecular catalysts and a wide range of substrates based on carbon, quantum dot...

Electro- and Solar-Driven Fuel Synthesis with First Row Transition Metal Complexes.

The use of 3d metals in de/hydrogenation catalysis has emerged as a competitive field with respect to “traditional” precious metal catalyzed transformations. The introduction of functional pincer ligands that can store protons and/or electrons as expressed by metal–ligand cooperativity and ligand redox-activity strongly stimulated this development as a conceptual starting point for rational catalyst design. This review aims at providing a comprehensive picture of the utilization of functional pincer ligands in first-row transition metal hydrogenation and dehydrogenation catalysis and related synthetic concepts relying on these such as the hydrogen borrowing methodology. Particular emphasis is put on the implementation and relevance of cooperating and redox-active pincer ligands within the mechanistic scenarios.

First-Row Transition Metal (De)Hydrogenation Catalysis Based On Functional Pincer Ligands.

The conservation of our element resources is a fundamental challenge of mankind. The development of alcohol refunctionalization reactions is a possible fossil carbon conservation strategy since alcohols can be obtained from indigestible and abundantly available biomass. The conservation of our rare noble metals, frequently used in key technologies such as catalysis, might be feasible by replacing them with highly abundant metals. The alkylation of amines by alcohols and related C–C coupling reactions are early examples of alcohol refunctionalization reactions. These reactions follow mostly the borrowing hydrogen or hydrogen autotransfer catalysis concept, and many 3d-metal catalysts have been disclosed in recent years. In this review, we summarize the progress made in developing Cu, Ni, Co, Fe, and Mn catalysts for C–N and C–C bond formation reactions with alcohols and amines using the borrowing hydrogen or hydrogen autotransfer concept. We expect that the findings in this field will inspire others to dev...

3d-Metal Catalyzed N- and C-Alkylation Reactions via Borrowing Hydrogen or Hydrogen Autotransfer

Catalytic hydrogenation and dehydrogenation reactions form the core of the modern chemical industry. This vast class of reactions is found in any part of chemical synthesis starting from the milligram-scale exploratory organic chemistry to the multi-ton base chemicals production. Noble metal catalysis has long been the key driving force in enabling these transformations with carbonyl substrates and their nitrogen-containing counterparts. This review is aimed at introducing the reader to the remarkable progress made in the last three years in the development of base metal catalysts for hydrogenations and dehydrogenative transformations.

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Catalytic (de)hydrogenation promoted by non-precious metals – Co, Fe and Mn: recent advances in an emerging field

Borrowing hydrogen (or hydrogen autotransfer) reactions represent straightforward and sustainable C-N bond-forming processes. In general, precious metal-based catalysts are employed for this effective transformation. In recent years, the use of earth abundant and cheap non-noble metal catalysts for this process attracted considerable attention in the scientific community. Here we show that the selective N-alkylation of amines with alcohols can be catalysed by defined PNP manganese pincer complexes. A variety of substituted anilines are monoalkylated with different (hetero)aromatic and aliphatic alcohols even in the presence of other sensitive reducible functional groups. As a special highlight, we report the chemoselective monomethylation of primary amines using methanol under mild conditions.

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Efficient and selective N-alkylation of amines with alcohols catalysed by manganese pincer complexes.

The catalytic dehydrogenative coupling of alcohols and amines to form aldimines represents an environmentally benign methodology in organic chemistry. This has been accomplished in recent years mainly with precious-metal-based catalysts. We present the dehydrogenative coupling of alcohols and amines to form imines and H2 that is catalyzed, for the first time, by a complex of the earth-abundant Mn. Detailed mechanistic study was carried out with the aid of NMR spectroscopy, intermediate isolation, and X-ray analysis.

Manganese-Catalyzed Environmentally Benign Dehydrogenative Coupling of Alcohols and Amines to Form Aldimines and H2: A Catalytic and Mechanistic Study.

The atom-efficient and environmentally benign catalytic hydrogenation of carboxylic acid esters to alcohols has been accomplished in recent years mainly with precious-metal-based catalysts, with few exceptions. Presented here is the first cobalt-catalyzed hydrogenation of esters to the corresponding alcohols. Unexpectedly, the evidence indicates the unprecedented involvement of ester enolate intermediates.

Cobalt‐Catalyzed Hydrogenation of Esters to Alcohols: Unexpected Reactivity Trend Indicates Ester Enolate Intermediacy

Herein we report the manganese-catalyzed C-C bond-forming reactions via α-alkylation of ketones, amides, and esters, using primary alcohols. β-Alkylation of secondary alcohols by primary alcohols to obtain α-alkylated ketones is also reported. The reactions are catalyzed by a ( i Pr-PNP)Mn(H)(CO)2 pincer complex under mild conditions in the presence of (catalytic) base liberating water (and H2 in the case of secondary alcohol alkylation) as the sole byproduct.

Manganese-Catalyzed α-Alkylation of Ketones, Esters, and Amides Using Alcohols

Cobalt-Catalyzed Hydrogenation of Esters to Alcohols: Unexpected Reactivity Trend Indicates Ester Enolate Intermediacy.

Manganese‐Catalyzed Environmentally Benign Dehydrogenative Coupling of Alcohols and Amines to Form Aldimines and H2: A Catalytic and Mechanistic Study.

Yehoshoa Ben David

Papers

Manganese-Catalyzed Environmentally Benign Dehydrogenative Coupling of Alcohols and Amines to Form Aldimines and H2: A Catalytic and Mechanistic Study.

Cobalt‐Catalyzed Hydrogenation of Esters to Alcohols: Unexpected Reactivity Trend Indicates Ester Enolate Intermediacy

Manganese-Catalyzed α-Alkylation of Ketones, Esters, and Amides Using Alcohols

Cobalt-Catalyzed Hydrogenation of Esters to Alcohols: Unexpected Reactivity Trend Indicates Ester Enolate Intermediacy.

Manganese‐Catalyzed Environmentally Benign Dehydrogenative Coupling of Alcohols and Amines to Form Aldimines and H2: A Catalytic and Mechanistic Study.