Cesium Carbonate-Catalyzed Reduction of Amides with Hydrosilanes

Abstract

Cesium carbonate has been found to be an effective catalyst for the reduction of tertiary carboxamides with the simple, commercially available PhSiH3 under solvent-free conditions. The catalytic system can effectively reduce a range of amides under relatively mild conditions (from room temperature to 80 °C) to yield the corresponding amines in good to excellent yields (71–100%) and thus has the potential for practical applications.