Hydrogen gas can be generated from simple alkanes (e.g., n-pentane, n-hexane, etc.) and diethyl ether (EtO) by mechanochemical energy using a planetary ball mill (SUS304, Fritsch Pulverisette 7), and the use of stainless steel balls and vessel is an important factor to generate the hydrogen. The reduction of organic compounds was also accomplished using the in-situ-generated hydrogen. While the use of pentane as the hydrogen source facilitated the reduction of the olefin moieties, the arene reduction could proceed using EtO. Within the components (Fe, Cr, Ni, etc.) of the stainless steel, Cr was the metal factor for the hydrogen generation from the alkanes and EtO, and Ni metal played the role of the hydrogenation catalyst.

Highly-functionalized arenes could be efficiently constructed by Pd/C-catalyzed aqueous dehydrogenation of 1,4-cyclohexadienes and cyclohexenes.

The highly-functionalized pyrroles could be efficiently synthesized from 3,6-dihydro-1,2-oxazines using only heterogeneous Cu/C under neat heating conditions.

Disiloxanes possessing a silicon-oxygen linkage are important as frameworks for functional materials and coupling partners for Hiyama-type cross coupling. We found that disiloxanes were effectively constructed of hydrosilanes catalyzed by gold on carbon in water as the solvent and oxidant in association with the emission of hydrogen gas at room temperature. The present oxidation could proceed via various reaction pathways, such as the hydration of hydrosilane into silanol, dehydrogenative coupling of hydrosilane into disilane, and the subsequent corresponding reactions to disiloxane. Additionally, the platinum on carbon catalyzed hydrogen-deuterium exchange reaction of arylhydrosilanes as substrates in heavy water proceeded on the aromatic nuclei at 80 °C with high deuterium efficiency and high regioselectivity at the only meta and para positions of the aromatic-silicon bond to give the deuterium-labeled disiloxanes.