On the Virtue of Indium in Reduction Reactions. A Comparison of Reductions Mediated by Indium and Zinc: Is Indium Metal an Effective Catalyst for Zinc Induced Reductions?

Indium(0)-mediated reductions have been reported for the transformation of several functional groups (imines, oximes, nitro groups, isoxazolidines, and conjugated alkenes, among others), prompted by the opportunity of performing the reactions in aqueous media and green conditions. We describe here the comparison of several reactions using indium or the less expensive zinc, carried out in order to evaluate the effective advantages brought about indium metal. We found some reactions for which use of In is mandatory and others where Zn worked equally well or even better. The reduction of hydroxylamines to the corresponding amines was the only reduction for which use of In provided much better results than Zn and was also possible to apply an efficient catalytic version with use of 2–5 mol-% In in the presence of stoichiometric Zn. Applicability of this catalytic reduction to “one-pot” model processes is also demonstrated.