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Chemoselective deoxygenation of carbonyls and alcohols using hydrogen by heterogeneous base-metal catalysts is crucial for the sustainable production of fine chemicals and biofuels. We report an aluminum metal–organic framework (DUT-5) node support cobalt(II) hydride, which is a highly chemoselective and recyclable heterogeneous catalyst for deoxygenation of a range of aromatic and aliphatic ketones, aldehydes, and primary and secondary alcohols, including biomass-derived substrates under 1 bar H2. The single-site cobalt catalyst (DUT-5-CoH) was easily prepared by postsynthetic metalation of the secondary building units (SBUs) of DUT-5 with CoCl2followed by the reaction of NaEt3BH. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES) indicated the presence of CoIIand AlIIIcenters in DUT-5-CoH and DUT-5-Co after catalysis. The coordination environment of the cobalt center of DUT-5-Co before and after catalysis was established by extended X-ray fine structure spectroscopy (EXAFS) and density functional theory. The kinetic and computational data suggest reversible carbonyl coordination to cobalt preceding the turnover-limiting step, which involves 1,2-insertion of the coordinated carbonyl into the cobalt–hydride bond. The unique coordination environment of the cobalt ion ligated by oxo-nodes within the porous framework and the rate independency on the pressure of H2allow the deoxygenation reactions chemoselectively under ambient hydrogen pressure.

We report a highly active single-site heterogeneous cobalt-catalyst based on a porous and robust pyridylimine-functionalized metal–organic frameworks (pyrim-MOF) for chemoselective borylation of arene and benzylic C–H bonds. The pyrim-MOF having UiO-68 topology, constructed from zirconium-cluster secondary building units and pyridylimine-functionalized dicarboxylate bridging linkers, was metalated with CoCl2followed by treatment of NaEt3BH to give the cobalt-functionalized MOF-catalyst (pyrim-MOF-Co). Pyrim-MOF-Co has a broad substrate scope, allowing the C–H borylation of halogen-, alkoxy-, alkyl-substituted arenes as well as heterocyclic ring systems using B2pin2or HBpin (pin = pinacolate) as the borylating agent to afford the corresponding arene- or alkyl-boronate esters in good yields. Pyrim-MOF-Co gave a turnover number (TON) of up to 2500 and could be recycled and reused at least 9 times. Pyrim-MOF-Co was also significantly more robust and active than its homogeneous control, highlighting the beneficial effect of active-site isolation within the MOF framework that prevents intermolecular decomposition. The experimental and computational studies suggested (pyrim•−)CoI(THF) as the active catalytic species within the MOF, which undergoes a mechanistic pathway of oxidative addition, turnover limiting σ-bond metathesis, followed by reductive elimination to afford the boronate ester.

The development of heterogeneous, chemoselective, and tandem catalytic systems using abundant metals is vital for the sustainable synthesis of fine and commodity chemicals. We report a robust and recyclable single-site cobalt-hydride catalyst based on a porous aluminum metal–organic framework (DUT-5 MOF) for chemoselective hydrogenation of arenes. The DUT-5 node-supported cobalt(II) hydride (DUT-5-CoH) is a versatile solid catalyst for chemoselective hydrogenation of a range of nonpolar and polar arenes, including heteroarenes such as pyridines, quinolines, isoquinolines, indoles, and furans to afford cycloalkanes and saturated heterocycles in excellent yields. DUT-5-CoH exhibited excellent functional group tolerance and could be reusable at least five times without decreased activity. The same MOF-Co catalyst was also efficient for tandem hydrogenation–hydrodeoxygenation of aryl carbonyl compounds, including biomass-derived platform molecules such as furfural and hydroxymethylfurfural to cycloalkanes. In the case of hydrogenation of cumene, our spectroscopic, kinetic, and density functional theory (DFT) studies suggest the insertion of a trisubstituted alkene intermediate into the Co–H bond occurring in the turnover limiting step. Our work highlights the potential of MOF-supported single-site base–metal catalysts for sustainable and environment-friendly industrial production of chemicals and biofuels.