Hydrogenation of Carbonyl Derivatives Catalysed by Manganese Complexes Bearing Bidentate Pyridinyl-Phosphine Ligands

Manganese(I) catalysts incorporating readily available bidentate 2-aminopyridinyl-phosphine ligands achieve a high efficiency in the hydrogenation of carbonyl compounds, significantly better than parent ones based on more elaborated and expensive tridentate 2,6-(diaminopyridinyl)-diphosphine ligands. The reaction proceeds with low catalyst loading (0.5 mol%) under mild conditions (50 degrees C) with yields up to 96%.