Using Methanol as a Formaldehyde Surrogate for Sustainable Synthesis of N-Heterocycles via Manganese-Catalyzed Dehydrogenative Cyclization

The development of an efficient and sustainable synthetic route for formaldehyde production from renewable feedstock,especially in combination with a subsequent transformation to straightforwardly construct valuable chemicals,is highly desirable.Herein,we report a novel manganese-catalyzed dehydrogenative cyclization of methanol as a formaldehyde surrogate with a variety of dinucleophiles for facile synthesis of N-heterocycles.The in situ generated formaldehyde via catalytic methanol dehydrogenation can be selectively trapped by diverse dinucleophiles to avoid several possible side reactions.The utilty of this transformation is further highlighted by its successful appliation to the synthesis of 13C-labeled N-heterocycles using 13CH_(3)OH as a readily accessible 13C-isotope reagent.

General and Phosphine-Free Cobalt-Catalyzed Hydrogenation of Esters to Alcohols

Background and Originality Content Reduction of esters to alcohols is a fundamental transformation in organic chemistry,and is important for the production of a wide range of bulk and fine chemicals.Compared with traditional approaches using stoichiometric amounts of metal hydride reagents,catalytic hydrogenation represents an environmentally benign and atom economic alternative.