Phosphine ligand-free bimetallic nanoparticles (NPs) composed of Ni(0)Pd(0) catalyze highly selective 1,4-reductions of enones, enamides, enenitriles, and ketoamides under aqueous micellar conditions. A minimal amount of Pd (Ni/Pd = 25:1) is needed to prepare these NPs, which results in reductions without impacting Nand O-benzyl, aldehyde, nitrile, and nitro functional groups. A broad range of substrates has been studied, including a gram-scale reaction. The metal−micelle binding is supported by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy data on both the NPs and their individual components. Optical imaging, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analyses reveal the formation of NP-containing micelles or vesicles, NP morphology, particle size distribution, and chemical composition. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements indicate the oxidation state of each metal within these bimetallic NPs.

The use of the inexpensive, benign, and sustainable polymer, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), in water enables nucleophilic aromatic subsitution (SNAr) reactions between various nucleophiles and electrophiles. The mild reaction conditions facilitate...

Solvents are the major source of chemical waste from synthetic chemistry labs. Growing attention to more environmentally friendly sustainable processes demands novel technologies to substitute toxic or hazardous solvents. If...

A reversible Van der Waals complex formation between the electron‐deficient fluorinated aromatic ring and N,N‐dimethylformamide (DMF) molecules followed by light irradiation resulted in charge transfer (CT) process. The complex was stabilized by ammonium formate and further decomposed to form the C−N bond. Control experiments revealed that the simultaneous SNAr pathway also contributes to product formation. This methodology is mild, metal‐free, and effective for the amination of a variety of substrates. The reproducibility of this methodology was also verified on gram‐scale reactions. The CT states were supported by control UV/Vis spectroscopy and computational studies.