Selective hydrogenation of N-heterocyclic compounds using Ru nanocatalysts in ionic liquids

Abstract

N-Heterocyclic compounds have been tested in the selective hydrogenation catalysed by small 1–3 nm sized Ru nanoparticles (NPs) embedded in various imidazolium based ionic liquids (ILs). Particularly a diol-functionalised IL shows the best performance in the hydrogenation of quinoline to 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline (¹THQ) with up to 99% selectivity.