Metal‐free Catalytic Olefin Hydrogenation: Low‐Temperature H₂ Activation by Frustrated Lewis Pairs

Abstract

Weak nucleophiles for strong activation: The reversible activation of dihydrogen by an electron-deficient phosphine, (C6F5)PPh2, in combination with the Lewis acid B(C6F5)3 at −80 °C was accomplished. The catalytic hydrogenation of olefins proceeds through protonation and subsequent hydride attack. Electron-deficient phosphines and diarlyamines were demonstrated to be viable Lewis bases for the reaction, thus allowing catalyst loadings of 10 to 5 mol %. Detailed facts of importance to specialist readers are published as ”Supporting Information”. Such documents are peer-reviewed, but not copy-edited or typeset. They are made available as submitted by the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.