Highly Selective Semihydrogenation of Alkynes to Alkenes by Using an Unsupported Nanoporous Palladium Catalyst: No Leaching of Palladium into the Reaction Mixture

We report the highly chemoselective and stereoselective semihydrogenation of alkynes to Z-internal and terminal alkenes by using unsupported nanoporous palladium (PdNPore) as a heterogeneous catalyst under mild reaction conditions (room temperature and 1 atm of H-2). The semihydrogenation of various terminal/internal and aromatic/aliphatic alkynes afforded the corresponding alkenes in good chemical yields with high selectivities. PdNPore further showed high chemoselectivity toward terminal alkynes in the presence of internal alkynes, which has not yet been achieved using supported palladium nanoparticle catalysts. H-H heterolysis of H-2 on the surface of PdNPore was strongly suggested by deuterium labeling experiments. No Pd leached from PdNPore during the reaction, and the catalyst was easily recovered and reused without a loss of activity.