Hydrogenation of Esters to Alcohols Catalyzed by Defined Manganese Pincer Complexes

Abstract

The first manganese-catalyzed hydrogenation of esters to alcohols has been developed. The combination of Mn(CO)₅ Br with [HN(CH₂ CH₂ P(Et)₂ )₂ ] leads to a mixture of cationic and neutral Mn PNP pincer complexes, which enable the reduction of various ester substrates, including aromatic and aliphatic esters as well as diesters and lactones. Notably, related pincer complexes with isopropyl or cyclohexyl substituents showed very low activity.