CoPd alloy nanoparticles catalyzed tandem ammonia borane dehydrogenation and reduction of aromatic nitro, nitrile and carbonyl compounds

•A facile route for the reduction of various unsaturated organic groups is presented.•Synthesis of monodisperse Co30Pd70 alloy nanoparticles is reported.•Reduced graphene oxide was used as the catalyst support.•A variety of primary amines were yielded by the reduction of nitro and/or nitriles.•Various primary or secondary alcohols were synthesized from carbonyl compounds.

Addressed herein is a general and facile route for the reduction of aromatic nitro, nitrile, and carbonyl compounds to the corresponding primary amines and alcohols, respectively, under ambient conditions. Our reduction approach comprises the tandem AB dehydrogenation and hydrogenation of unsaturated organic groups catalyzed by reduced graphene oxide supported Co30Pd70 alloy nanoparticles (rGO-Co30Pd70) in water/methanol mixture (v/v = 7/3) at room temperature. Monodisperse Co30Pd70 alloy NPs were synthesized by using an organic solution phase protocol involving the co-reduction of cobalt(II) acetylacetonate and palladium(II) acetylacetonate in oleylamine and borane-tert-butylamine mixture at 100 °C. The colloidal Co30Pd70 NPs were assembled on reduced graphene oxide (rGO-Co30Pd70) before their use as catalysts in the tandem reactions. A variety of aromatic nitro, nitriles, and carbonyl compounds were tested by the rGO-Co30Pd70 catalyzed tandem reaction and all the corresponding primary amines or alcohols were obtained by the yields reaching up to 99% within reaction times of 5–15 min.

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