title: Hydrogenation of carboxylic acids with a homogeneous cobalt catalyst.
abstract: The reduction of esters and carboxylic acids to alcohols is a highly relevant conversion for the pharmaceutical and fine-chemical industries and for biomass conversion. It is commonly performed using stoichiometric reagents, and the catalytic hydrogenation of the acids previously required precious metals. Here we report the homogeneously catalyzed hydrogenation of carboxylic acids to alcohols using earth-abundant cobalt. This system, which pairs Co(BF4)2·6H2O with a tridentate phosphine ligand, can reduce a wide range of esters and carboxylic acids under relatively mild conditions (100°C, 80 bar H2) and reaches turnover numbers of up to 8000.
authors.affiliation: Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ties J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Korstanje
authors.affiliation: Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jarl Ivar
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: van der Vlugt
authors.affiliation: Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, Netherlands. c.j.elsevier@uva.nl b.debruin@uva.nl.
authors.forename: Cornelis J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Elsevier
authors.affiliation: Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, Netherlands. c.j.elsevier@uva.nl b.debruin@uva.nl.
authors.forename: Bas
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: de Bruin
mesh_terms: D000438:Alcohols / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D002264:Carboxylic Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D002384:Catalysis; D003035:Cobalt / Q000737:chemistry*; D006865:Hydrogenation; D008024:Ligands; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010720:Phosphines / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000438:Alcohols; D002264:Carboxylic Acids; D008024:Ligands; D010720:Phosphines; D003035:Cobalt; C044646:phosphine