Continuous hydrogenation

TABLE 7.20 Absorption Frequencies of Single Bonds to Hydrogen Continued)... 

A mixture of 53.5 g (0.5 mol) of cyclopentylideneacetonitrile dissolved in 50 cc of absolute ethanol and 0.5 g of a palladium-carbon catalyst is hydrogenated with hydrogen at a pressure of about 40 lb for about 3 hours. An additional amount of 0.8 g of palladium-carbon catalyst is then added and the hydrogenation continued for about 4 hours during which time the reduction is substantially completed and the cyclopentylideneacetonitrile is converted to cyclopentylacetonitrile. The reaction mixture is filtered to remove the catalyst and the alcohol is evaporated in vacuo. 

Catalysts for ketone hydrogenation continue to be developed but one of the best systems is still the BINAP-DPEN catalyst first reported by Ohkuma et al. in 1995. " In this system ruthenium is combined with both a chiral diphosphine and a chiral diamine, forming an octahedral complex which gives a high degree of enantioselectivity. This stereoselectivity is considered to be a result of the synergistic effect of the chiral diphosphine and diamine ligands. 

When small increments of nitrobenzene were added to CoH containing added alkali, 4.3 atoms of hydrogen were absorbed per mole of substrate. The reduction was catalytic, the absorption of hydrogen continuing beyond a H/Co value of 2.0. The addition of excess substrate to CoH containing added alkali resulted in the absorption of only a small quantity of hydrogen. 

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