Taming Electroreduced Fe for Semi-Hydrogenation Using a Redox Mediator Strategy

In our first foray into Fe catalysis, Zi and team put the reins on Fe in efforts to bridge the gap in earth abundant electrocatalysts. Compared to its counterparts, reductive Fe electrocatalysis is exceedingly rare. Drawing inspiration from elegant catalyst systems in chemical Fe catalysis, we found that a stabilized (P3P)Fe(II) precatalyst developed by Bianchini and popularized by Beller illustrates a key challenge in moving the field toward inexpensive, non-toxic Fe-based systems. By using a cobaltocene redox mediator, selective Fe(II/I) reduction can be achieved under acidic conditions to avoid hydrogen evolution and engage in alkyne semi-hydrogenation as a proof of concept. Congrats to the team! We are excited to continue exploring Fe catalysis in other contexts with this knowledge.

For a link to the preprint:

https://chemrxiv.org/engage/chemrxiv/article-details/682e30e13ba0887c331d8491