Efficient and chemoselective hydrogenation of aldehydes catalyzed by well-defined PN3-pincer manganese(II) catalyst precursors: an application in furfural conversion.

Well-defined and air-stable PN3–pincer manganese(II) complexes were synthesized and used for the hydrogenation of aldehydes into alcohols under mild conditions using MeOH as a solvent. This protocol is applicable for a wide range of aldehydes containing various functional groups. Importantly, α,β-unsaturated aldehydes, including ynals, are hydrogenated with the CC double bond/CC triple bond intact. Our methodology was demonstrated for the conversion of biomass derived feedstocks such as furfural and 5-formylfurfural to furfuryl alcohol and 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfuryl alcohol respectively.