Frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs) have recently been advanced as efficient metal-free catalysts for catalytic hydrogenation, but their performance in chemoselective hydrogenation, particularly in heterogeneous systems, has not yet been achieved. Herein, we demonstrate that, via tailoring the pore environment within metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), FLPs not only can be stabilized but also can develop interesting performance in the chemoselective hydrogenation of α,β-unsaturated organic compounds, which cannot be achieved with FLPs in a homogeneous system. Using hydrogen gas under moderate pressure, the FLP anchored within a MOF that features open metal sites and hydroxy groups on the pore walls can serve as a highly efficient heterogeneous catalyst to selectively reduce the imine bond in α,β-unsaturated imine substrates to afford unsaturated amine compounds.
Keywords: chemoselective catalysis; frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs); heterogeneous catalysis; hydrogenation; metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).
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