Indium-catalyzed hydrosilylation of nitroarenes to aromatic amines

Abstract

Herein, we report the synthesis of three indium complexes (1–3) supported by different chelating ligands (L1–L3). The indium metal complexes were characterized by using multinuclear NMR, and their solid-state structures were confirmed by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. The indium complex 1 (5 mol%) effectively reduced nitroarenes in the presence of phenylsilane and NaI. Nitroarenes containing different functionalities were reduced under standard conditions to give the corresponding amines in good yields.