Hydrodebromination of Aromatic Bromides Catalyzed by Unsupported Nanoporous Gold: Heterolytic Cleavage of Hydrogen Molecule

Abstract Unsupported nanoporous gold (AuNPore) is a highly efficient, practically applicable, and recyclable catalyst for hydrodebromination of aromatic bromides. The AuNPore‐catalyzed hydrodebromination of aromatic bromides proceeded smoothly at relatively low hydrogen pressure and temperature to achieve good to excellent yields of the corresponding non‐bromine variants. The selective hydrodebromination reaction occurred exclusively in the coexistence of chlorine atom. For the first time, a mechanistic study revealed that the H−H bond splits in a heterolysis manner on the surface of AuNPore to generate Au−H hydride species.