Nanocrystalline magnesium oxide-stabilized palladium(0): An efficient and reusable catalyst for selective reduction of nitro compounds

An efficient, mild and selective synthesis of aromatic and aliphatic amines from the corresponding nitro compounds has been realized by using a ligand-free heterogeneous nanocrystalline magnesium oxide-stabilized palladium(0) catalyst, employing molecular hydrogen as the reductant. The catalyst is recovered quantitatively by simple filtration and was reused for several cycles with consistent activity.