Lighter Hydrogenation Catalysts: Enzymes have evolved to use abundant metals such as iron, cobalt, and nickel for redox catalysis. However, synthetic catalysis has generally relied on the rarer, heavier relatives of these elements: ruthenium, rhodium, iridium, palladium, and platinum (see the Perspective by Bullock ).
Friedfeld
et al. (p. 1076 ) used high-throughput screening to show that the right cobalt precursor can be activated for asymmetric hydrogenation catalysis by using the traditional ligands developed for the precious metals.
Zuo
et al. (p. 1080 ) focused on iron, demonstrating a highly effective asymmetric transfer hydrogenation catalyst that uses a ligand rationally designed after careful mechanistic study.
Jagadeesh
et al. (p. 1073 ) prepared supported iron catalysts that selectively reduce nitro substituents on aromatic rings to amines, thereby facilitating the preparation of a wide range of aniline derivatives.