Water as a direct hydrogen donor in supercritical carbon dioxide: A novel and efficient Zn-H2O-CO2 system for chemo-selective reduction of nitrobenzenes to anilines

Abstract

An eco-friendly and cheap Zn-H2O-CO2 system was presented for chemoselective reduction of nitrobenzenes to anilines with high yields (80% - 97% isolated yields) in supercritical carbon dioxide. This process brings together the very important green chemistry technologies - the use of carbon dioxide as a solvent and the use of water as a hydrogen donor.