Pt/C‐catalyzed Selective Hydrogenation of Nitroarenes to N‐ arylhydroxylamines under Mild Conditions

Abstract The synthesis of N ‐arylhydroxylamines through the in‐situ hydrogenation of nitroarenes over commercial Pt/C catalyst was investigated. The effects of various reaction conditions including hydrogen donor, solvent, catalyst dosage, temperature and reaction time on the selective hydrogenation of nitrobenzene (NB) to N ‐phenylhydroxylamine (PHA) were systematically investigated. The results showed that the yield of N ‐phenylhydroxylamine reached 87.2 % using hydrazine hydrate as hydrogen donor in N,N ‐dimethylformamide solvent at 30 °C for 60 min. And the catalyst showed no obvious activity loss after a 6‐times recycle. Meanwhile, the developed methodology can also transform a range of nitroarenes to the corresponding N ‐arylhydroxylamines in excellent yields (74–99 %).