Nickel chloride aliphatic nitro compound reduction

Titanium(II) reagents have also been used to reduce aliphatic nitro compounds to amines halo, cyano and ester groups are not reduced. Sodium borohydride, in the presence of catalytic amounts of nickel(II) chloride, reduces a variety of aliphatic nitro compounds to amines. Nickel boride (Ni2B) is an active catalyst for reductions of primary, secondary and tertiary nitro aliphatic compounds to amines. The reduction of nitrocyclohexane (45) yields cyclohexylamine (47) as well as small amounts of dicyclohexylamine (49), the latter being formed via reaction of intermediates (46) and (48 equation 28). 

Procedures were proposed for the reduction of aromatic nitro groups to amines. Sodium dithionitei78 and a combination of sulfur and hydrazine on activated carboni79 are reported to provide anilines in good to excellent yields. From aliphatic nitro compounds (Eq. 66), primary amines could be obtained with "nickel boride", prepared from nickel chloride and sodium borohydride.i ... 

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