Selective Hydrogenation of Heteroarenes Using Supported Ruthenium Phosphide Nanoparticle Catalysts

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new catalyst for selectively hydrogenating heteroarenes into aromatic compounds, useful for making drugs and chemicals.

Contribution

A novel ruthenium phosphide nanoparticle catalyst on ionic liquid phases is developed for selective hydrogenation.

Findings

The catalyst is highly active, selective, and robust under batch and continuous flow conditions.

The Ru50P50@SILP variant enables the synthesis of valuable drug molecules and useful synthons.

Abstract

The selective hydrogenation
of heteroarenes, including
quinolines,
indoles, benzofurans, and benzothiophenes, to the corresponding aromatic
compounds is enabled by ruthenium phosphide nanoparticles on imidazolium-based
supported ionic liquid phases, Ru
x
P100–x
@SILP, as catalysts. The organometallic
approach to the synthesis and immobilization of ruthenium phosphide
nanoparticles (NPs) allows preparation under mild wet-chemistry conditions
and systematic variation of the Ru/P ratio. The novel materials are
characterized using various techniques, including electron microscopy
and X-ray spectroscopies, and are found to be highly active, selective,
and robust for application under batch and continuous flow conditions.
The synthetic potential of Ru50P50@SILP as the
most promising catalyst is demonstrated for a wide variety of substrates,
enabling the synthesis of valuable drug molecules (e.g., cuspareine
and salsolidine) and providing access to useful synthons including
isotope labeling for fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

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