Low pressure amide hydrogenation enabled by magnetocatalysis

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 16; no. 1; pp. 3464 - 13
• Main Authors: Lin, Sheng-Hsiang, Ahmedi, Sihana, Kretschmer, Aaron, Campalani, Carlotta, Kayser, Yves, Kang, Liqun, DeBeer, Serena, Leitner, Walter, Bordet, Alexis
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 11.04.2025; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 639/638/298/920; 639/638/77/887; Aluminum oxide; Amides; Amines; Catalysts; Energy transfer; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hydrogenation; Induction heating; Iron carbides; Low pressure; Magnetic fields; Magnetic induction; multidisciplinary; Nanoparticles; Organic compounds; Platinum; Reducing agents; Renewable energy sources; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Thermal energy
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58713-6

The catalytic hydrogenation of amides with molecular hydrogen (H 2 ) is an appealing route for the synthesis of valuable amines entering in the preparation of countless organic compounds. Running effective amide hydrogenation under mild H 2 pressures is challenging although desirable to preclude the need for specialized high-pressure technologies in research and industry. Here we show that magnetocatalysis with standard supported catalysts enables unprecedented amide hydrogenation at mild conditions. Widely available and commercial platinum on alumina (Pt/Al 2 O 3 ) was functionalized with iron carbide nanoparticles (ICNPs) to allow for localized and rapid magnetic induction heating resulting in the activation of neighboring Pt sites by thermal energy transfer. Exposure of the ICNPs@Pt/Al 2 O 3 catalyst to an alternating current magnetic field enables highly active and selective hydrogenation of a range of amides at a reactor temperature of 150 °C under 3 bar or even ambient pressure of H 2 . ICNPs@Pt/Al 2 O 3 reacts adaptively to fluctuations in electricity supply mimicking the use of intermittent renewable energy sources. This work may pave the way toward a greatly enhanced practicability of amide hydrogenation at the laboratory and production scales, and demonstrates more generally the broad potential of the emerging field of magnetocatalysis for synthetic chemistry. Due to their stability, reduction of amides typically requires harsh conditions or strong reductants. Here the authors report a method for amide reduction with molecular hydrogen under mild conditions by use of magnetocatalysis.