| abstract |
The present application discloses complexes useful as catalysts for organic chemical synthesis including hydrogenation and dehydrogenation of unsaturated compounds, or dehydrogenation of substrates. Hydrogenation of a range of substrate compounds includes esters, lactones, oils and fats, yielding alcohols, diols and triols as reaction products. The catalysts of the present application can be used to catalyze hydrogenation reactions under solvent-free conditions. The catalyst also allows hydrogenation without the addition of a base, and it can be used as an alternative to conventional reduction methods using hydrides of main group elements. Furthermore, the catalysts of the present application can catalyze dehydrogenation reactions under homogeneous and/or acceptor-free conditions. In this way, the catalysts provided herein can be used to substantially reduce the cost and improve the environmental characteristics of the preparation methods of a variety of chemical reagents. |