Iron N-Heterocyclic Carbenes in Reduction Reactions

Iron N-heterocyclic carbene research has witnessed a spectacular growth in the last decade. A wide number of catalytic applications have been recently disclosed, demonstrating the enormous potential of Fe-NHCs in organic synthesis. Catalytic reductions of multiple bonds through hydrogenation, transfer hydrogenation, hydrosilylation and hydroboration processes constitute important transformations. To date, this field of research is still in its infancy. Over the past few years our group has contributed to this area by developing new efficient and selective iron-NHC complexes for the reduction of unsaturated organic groups. This review provides a concise overview of Fe-NHC catalysed reduction reactions to push for further progress in this exciting area of research.