Room-temperature chemoselective reduction of nitro groups using non-noble metal nanocatalysts in water.

Purely aqueous-phase chemoselective reduction of a wide range of aromatic and aliphatic nitro substrates has been performed in the presence of inexpensive Ni- and Co-based nanoparticle catalysts using hydrazine hydrate as a reducing agent at room temperature. Along with the observed high conversions and selectivities, the studied nanoparticle catalysts also exhibit a high tolerance to other highly reducible groups present in the nitro substrates. The development of these potential chemoselective reduction catalysts also provides a facile route for the synthesis of other industrially important fine chemicals or biologically important compounds, where other highly reducible groups are present in close proximity to the targeted nitro groups.