Cu nanoparticles: a highly efficient non-noble metal catalyst for rapid reduction of nitro compounds to amines with NaBH4 in water

摘要

The purely aqueous-phase reduction of a wide range of nitro compounds to the corresponding amines has been carried out with NaBH4 in the presence of inexpensive Cu nanoparticles as catalyst. The reactions were taken place in water (80 A degrees C) within 4-15 min to give amines in high to excellent yields.