Metal-Free, Rapid, and Highly Chemoselective Reduction of Aromatic Nitro Compounds at Room Temperature

Abstract

In this study, we developed a metal-free and highly chemoselective method for the reduction of aromatic nitro compounds. This reduction was performed using tetrahydroxydiboron [B-2(OH)(4)] as the reductant and 4,4'-bipyridine as the organocatalyst and could be completed within 5 min at room temperature. Under optimal conditions, nitroarenes with sensitive functional groups, such as vinyl, ethynyl, carbonyl, and halogen, were converted into the corresponding anilines with excellent selectivity while avoiding the undesirable reduction of the sensitive functional groups.