Patent ID: 9745332
Date: 2017-08-29
CPC Classifications: B01J,C07B,C07C,C07D,C07F

Claim:
1. A process for the reduction of an amide bond in a substrate comprising contacting the substrate with: hydrogen gas; and a transition metal catalyst complex comprising a transition metal selected from Ru, Fe, Rh, Ir, Pd, Cu, Co, Pt, Ti, Zr, Os or Hf, and at least one to four ligands selected from the group consisting of: a bidentate diamino (N—N) ligand; a bidentate aminophosphine (P—N) ligand; a tridentate diaminophosphine (P—N—N) ligand; a tridentate aminodiphosphine (P—N—P) ligand; and a tetradentate diamino-diphosphine (P—N—N—P) ligand, and a monodentate amine (N) ligand; under conditions suitable to cleave the amide bond to give an amine and an alcohol; wherein said process is performed in one of the presence of a base or in the absence of base and wherein, when said process is performed in the absence of base, the process is performed in the presence of a sufficiently non-basic hydridic species, and wherein when said process is performed in the presence of a base, and the transition metal catalyst complex is present at an amount of 1 mol % or more, the process is performed using hydrogen gas at a pressure less than 10 atm; and wherein if the transition metal catalyst complex is cationic, the transition metal catalyst complex further comprises one or more suitable counteranions.