Selective deuteration of pyridine using barium oxide and D2 gas

Abstract

We report an efficient and easily available transition metal-free catalyst, barium oxide (BaO), for D/H exchange reaction between pyridine and D₂. BaO enables selective deuteration at the α-position of pyridine, which is different from the reported base-mediated processes. We propose that the heterolytic dissociation of D₂(H₂) at the surface of BaO plays a key role in this process.