Single-Atom Cobalt-Catalyzed Transfer Hydrogenation of Azides and One-Pot Synthesis of Pyrroles

In this work, a single-atom cobalt-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation (TH) of azides is reported under mild conditions (at 30 & DEG;C in 30 min) using NH2NH2 . H2O as the hydrogen source. Employing this protocol, a wide range of azides were transformed to their corresponding amines. This methodology was extended towards the synthesis of several important N-substituted pyrroles from azides in one-pot manner. The control experiments suggested, the transfer hydrogenation favoured by electron withdrawing substituents and one-pot pyrrole synthesis favoured by electron-donating substituents. The recyclability test revealed the catalysts could be recycled up to 7(th) times without significant loss in the catalytic activity.