We report a strategy to develop heterogeneous single‐site enantioselective catalysts based on naturally occurring amino acids and earth‐abundant metals for eco‐friendly asymmetric catalysis. The grafting of amino acids within the pores of a metal‐organic framework (MOF), followed by post‐synthetic metalation with iron precursor, affords highly active and enantioselective (>99 % ee for 10 examples) catalysts for hydrosilylation and hydroboration of carbonyl compounds. Impressively, the MOF‐Fe catalyst displayed high turnover numbers of up to 10 000 and was recycled and reused more than 15 times without diminishing the enantioselectivity. MOF‐Fe displayed much higher activity and enantioselectivity than its homogeneous control catalyst, likely due to the formation of robust single‐site catalyst in the MOF through site‐isolation.

The development of highly efficient and enantioselective heterogeneous catalysts based on earth-abundant elements and inexpensive chiral ligands is essential for environment-friendly and economical production of optically active compounds. We report a strategy of synthesizing chiral amino alcohol-functionalized metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) to afford highly enantioselective single-site base-metal catalysts for asymmetric organic transformations. The chiral MOFs (vol-UiO) were prepared by grafting of chiral amino alcohol such as l-valinol within the pores of aldehyde-functionalized UiO-MOFs via formation of imine linkages. The metalation of vol-UiO with FeCl2 in THF gives amino alcohol coordinated octahedral FeII species of vol-FeCl­(THF)3 within the MOFs as determined by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Upon activation with LiCH2SiMe3, vol-UiO-Fe catalyzed hydrosilylation and hydroboration of a range of aliphatic and aromatic carbonyls to afford the corresponding chiral alcohols with enantiomeric excesses up to 99%. Vol-UiO-Fe catalysts have high turnover numbers of up to 15 000 and could be reused at least 10 times without any loss of activity and enantioselectivity. The spectroscopic, kinetic, and computational studies suggest iron-hydride as the catalytic species, which undergoes enantioselective 1,2-insertion of carbonyl to give an iron-alkoxide intermediate. The subsequent σ-bond metathesis between Fe–O bond and Si–H bond of silane produces chiral silyl ether. This work highlights the importance of MOFs as the tunable molecular material for designing chiral solid catalysts based on inexpensive natural feedstocks such as chiral amino acids and base-metals for asymmetric organic transformations.

We report a highly active single-site heterogeneous cobalt-catalyst based on a porous and robust pyridylimine-functionalized metal–organic frameworks (pyrim-MOF) for chemoselective borylation of arene and benzylic C–H bonds. The pyrim-MOF having UiO-68 topology, constructed from zirconium-cluster secondary building units and pyridylimine-functionalized dicarboxylate bridging linkers, was metalated with CoCl2 followed by treatment of NaEt3BH to give the cobalt-functionalized MOF-catalyst (pyrim-MOF-Co). Pyrim-MOF-Co has a broad substrate scope, allowing the C–H borylation of halogen-, alkoxy-, alkyl-substituted arenes as well as heterocyclic ring systems using B2pin2 or HBpin (pin = pinacolate) as the borylating agent to afford the corresponding arene- or alkyl-boronate esters in good yields. Pyrim-MOF-Co gave a turnover number (TON) of up to 2500 and could be recycled and reused at least 9 times. Pyrim-MOF-Co was also significantly more robust and active than its homogeneous control, highlighting the beneficial effect of active-site isolation within the MOF framework that prevents intermolecular decomposition. The experimental and computational studies suggested (pyrim•−)­CoI(THF) as the active catalytic species within the MOF, which undergoes a mechanistic pathway of oxidative addition, turnover limiting σ-bond metathesis, followed by reductive elimination to afford the boronate ester.

The development of chemoselective and heterogeneous earth-abundant metal catalysts is essential for environmentally friendly chemical synthesis. We report a highly efficient, chemoselective, and reusable single-site nickel­(II) hydride catalyst based on robust and porous aluminum metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) (DUT-5) for hydrogenation of nitro and nitrile compounds to the corresponding amines and hydrogenolysis of aryl ethers under mild conditions. The nickel-hydride catalyst was prepared by the metalation of aluminum hydroxide secondary building units (SBUs) of DUT-5 having the formula of Al­(μ2-OH)­(bpdc) (bpdc = 4,4′-biphenyldicarboxylate) with NiBr2 followed by a reaction with NaEt3BH. DUT-5-NiH has a broad substrate scope with excellent functional group tolerance in the hydrogenation of aromatic and aliphatic nitro and nitrile compounds under 1 bar H2 and could be recycled and reused at least 10 times. By changing the reaction conditions of the hydrogenation of nitriles, symmetric or unsymmetric secondary amines were also afforded selectively. The experimental and computational studies suggested reversible nitrile coordination to nickel followed by 1,2-insertion of coordinated nitrile into the nickel-hydride bond occurring in the turnover-limiting step. In addition, DUT-5-NiH is also an active catalyst for chemoselective hydrogenolysis of carbon–oxygen bonds in aryl ethers to afford hydrocarbons under atmospheric hydrogen in the absence of any base, which is important for the generation of fuels from biomass. This work highlights the potential of MOF-based single-site earth-abundant metal catalysts for practical and eco-friendly production of chemical feedstocks and biofuels.

Chemoselective deoxygenation of carbonyls and alcohols using hydrogen by heterogeneous base-metal catalysts is crucial for the sustainable production of fine chemicals and biofuels. We report an aluminum metal−organic framework (DUT-5) node support cobalt(II) hydride, which is a highly chemoselective and recyclable heterogeneous catalyst for deoxygenation of a range of aromatic and aliphatic ketones, aldehydes, and primary and secondary alcohols, including biomass-derived substrates under 1 bar H 2 . The single-site cobalt catalyst (DUT-5-CoH) was easily prepared by postsynthetic metalation of the secondary building units (SBUs) of DUT-5 with CoCl 2 followed by the reaction of NaEt 3 BH. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray absorption nearedge spectroscopy (XANES) indicated the presence of Co II and Al III centers in DUT-5-CoH and DUT-5-Co after catalysis. The coordination environment of the cobalt center of DUT-5-Co before and after catalysis was established by extended X-ray fine structure spectroscopy (EXAFS) and density functional theory. The kinetic and computational data suggest reversible carbonyl coordination to cobalt preceding the turnover-limiting step, which involves 1,2-insertion of the coordinated carbonyl into the cobalt−hydride bond. The unique coordination environment of the cobalt ion ligated by oxo-nodes within the porous framework and the rate independency on the pressure of H 2 allow the deoxygenation reactions chemoselectively under ambient hydrogen pressure.