Cesium Carbonate-Catalyzed Reduction of Amides with Hydrosilanes

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 degrees C) to yield the corresponding amines in good to excellent yields (71-100%) and thus has the potential for practical applications.