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

摘要

Catalytic hydrogenation of esters is essential for the sustainable production of alcohols in organic synthesis and chemical industry.Herein,we describe the first non-noble metal catalytic system that enables an efficient hydrogenation of non-activated esters to alcohols in the absence of phosphine ligands (with a maximum turnover number of 2391).The general applicability of this protocol was demonstrated by the high-yielding hydrogenation of 39 ester substrates including aromatic/aliphatic esters,lactones,polyesters and various pharmaceutical molecules.