BIAN-Aluminium-Catalysed Imine Hydrogenation.

Hydrogenations have been dominated by transition metal catalysis, while the use of more abundant and inexpensive main group metal catalysts has remained a great challenge. Here, a bimetallic Li/Al dihydride was successfully applied to catalytic hydrogenations of imines. The catalyst [(BIAN)Al(μ-H)Li(OEt)] was easily prepared from the 2e-reduced BIAN derivative and LiAlH.

Redox-active BIAN-based Diimine Ligands in Metal-Catalyzed Small Molecule Syntheses.

α-Diimine ligands have significantly shaped the coordination chemistry of most transition metal complexes. Among them, bis(imino)acenaphthene ligands (BIANs) have recently been matured to great versatility and applicability to catalytic reactions. Besides variations of the ligand periphery, the great versatility of BIAN ligands resides within their ability to undergo facile electronic manipulations.

Iron-catalysed allylation-hydrogenation sequences as masked alkyl-alkyl cross-couplings.

An iron-catalysed allylation of organomagnesium reagents (alkyl, aryl) with simple allyl acetates proceeds under mild conditions (Fe(OAc) or Fe(acac), EtO, r.t.) to furnish various alkene and styrene derivatives.