Vanadium- and Chromium-Catalyzed Dehydrogenative Synthesis of Imines from Alcohols and Amines

Vanadium(IV) tetraphenylporphyrin dichloride and chromium(III) tetraphenylporphyrin chloride have been developed as catalysts for the acceptorless dehydrogenation of alcohols. The catalysts have been applied to the direct synthesis of imines in overall good yields from a variety of alcohols and amines. The transformations are proposed to proceed by metal-ligand bifunctional pathways with an outer-sphere transfer of two hydrogen atoms from the alcohol to the metal porphyrin complexes. The results show that vanadium and chromium catalysts can also be employed for the dehydrogenation of alcohols with the release of hydrogen gas, and they may represent valuable alternatives to other catalysts based on Earth-abundant metals.