Hydrogenation of carboxylic acids with a homogeneous cobalt catalyst

The reduction of esters and carboxylic acids to alcohols is a highly relevant conversion for the pharmaceutical and fine-chemical industries and for biomass conversion. It is commonly performed using stoichiometric reagents, and the catalytic hydrogenation of the acids previously required precious metals. Here we report the homogeneously catalyzed hydrogenation of carboxylic acids to alcohols using earth-abundant cobalt. This system, which pairs Co(BF4)(2)center dot 6H(2)O with a tridentate phosphine ligand, can reduce a wide range of esters and carboxylic acids under relatively mild conditions (100 degrees C, 80 bar H-2) and reaches turnover numbers of up to 8000.