Oxides and Simple Iron Salt-based Catalysis

Iron Oxides and Simple Iron Salt-based Catalysis 

David Brewster Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FJ, UK Email Stephen.Thomas ed.ac.uk 

Iron catalysis has been known and investigated for over a century. Perhaps most importantly, iron catalysis has found use in some of the most fundamental industrial processes, such as the Haber-Bosch ammonia synthesis and Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbon synthesis. The intrinsic sustainability traits of iron, i.e. the high natural abundance and low toxicity, have made the development of iron-catalysed processes a key goal. 

Modern advances have shown simple iron oxides and iron salts to be highly competent catalysts for complex synthetic organic transformations, and a wide variety of procedures have been reported. In particular, the ability of nonligated iron catalysts to perform challenging synthetic transformations is particularly advantageous, as ligands are often expensive and require multistep syntheses that can produce significant amounts of waste byproducts. 

Iron-catalysed cross-coupling and olefin hydrofunctionalisation reactions have emerged that operate well in the absence of the more commonly required noble metals. Similarly, operationally simple and practical iron-catalysed carbonyl and olefin hydrogenation procedures are now available, providing inexpensive routes for molecule construction. 

---

Iron Oxides and Simple Iron Salt-based Catalysis RMgX or MBH4 or H2N2... 

---