Engaging hydrazine hydrate as a hydrogen source for cobalt(ii)-catalysed transfer hydrogenation of nitroaromatics

Herein, we report earth-abundant cobalt(II)-catalysed hydrogenation of nitroaromatics to amines by utilizing hydrazine hydrate as the liquid hydrogen carrier. The significant highlight of this method is the production of greener byproducts. Remarkably, the developed method is promising in accessing drugs like butamben and benzocaine and other potential pharmaceutical precursors. The current protocol is highly functional group tolerant and also scalable to gram-scale synthesis. Density functional theory calculations have been performed with control studies to comprehend the mechanistic pathways.