eHydrogenation: Hydrogen-free Electrochemical Hydrogenation

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2023 Sep 18;62(38):e202309563. doi: 10.1002/anie.202309563. Epub 2023 Aug 16.

Abstract

Hydrogenation reactions are staple transformations commonly used across scientific fields to synthesise pharmaceuticals, natural products, and various functional materials. However, the vast majority of these reactions require the use of a toxic and costly catalyst leading to unpractical, hazardous and often functionally limited conditions. Herein, we report a new, general, practical, efficient, mild and high-yielding hydrogen-free electrochemical method for the reduction of alkene, alkyne, nitro and azido groups. Finally, this method has been applied to deuterium labelling.

Keywords: Anodic Oxidation; Deuteration; Diimide Reduction; Electrochemistry; Hydrogenation.