Regio- and Chemoselective Reduction of Aromatic Nitro and Carbonyl Compounds Over Novel Bakers Yeast Immobilized Nanoporous Silicates

For the first time, Bakers yeast immobilized mesoporous MCM-41 (BY/MCM-41) is put forward as a promising heterogeneous catalyst for selective reduction of aromatic nitro and carbonyl containing compounds. The catalyst is highly efficient for the reduction of aromatic nitro and carbonyl groups to their respective amines and alcohols. It showed highly regio- and chemoselectivity for the reduction of substituted aromatic dinitro compounds and nitro compounds with carbonyl groups. The catalyst also showed promise for the chemoselective reduction of α,β-unsaturated carbonyls to allylic alcohols. In all the cases, good to excellent yield is obtained with minimal reaction time. It is also proved that the catalyst can be reused for these purposes. Keywords: Baker's yeast, mesoporous, heterogeneous catalysis, selective reduction, nitroarenes