# Catalytic C-C Bond Forming Hydrogenations

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN · 2020 · $334,734

## Abstract

Project Summary: As exemplified by the Haber-Bosch reaction, which sustains half the human
population, and enantioselective hydrogenation, which is the foremost chemical method used to
create chiral pharmaceutical and agrochemical ingredients, catalytic hydrogenation has had a
greater impact on how humans live and die than any other chemical process. Prior to our work,
the sole example of a “C-C bond forming hydrogenation” was hydroformylation, which is the
largest application of homogenous metal catalysis. My laboratory has pioneered a broad, new
class of C-C bond formations that merge the characteristics of catalytic hydrogenation and
carbonyl addition – processes in which two or more reactants are hydrogenated to form a single,
more complex product. These transformations bypass the use of stoichiometric carbanions,
offering a byproduct-free alternative to a range of classical carbonyl or imine additions. This
concept is extended further by “C-C bond forming transfer hydrogenations” that directly convert
lower alcohols to higher alcohols, again in the absence of stoichiometric metals. In the proposed
funding period, we will develop methods for the stereo- and site-selective formation of quaternary
centers, the use of α-olefins as couplings partners, and the use of base metal (Fe, Co) catalysts.
Our goal is to develop environmentally benign methods for the conversion of inexpensive
chemical feedstocks to value-added building blocks for use in the manufacture of pharmaceutical
and agrochemical ingredients.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9889962
- **Project number:** 5R01GM069445-16
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
- **Principal Investigator:** MICHAEL J KRISCHE
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $334,734
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2005-03-15 → 2021-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9889962

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9889962, Catalytic C-C Bond Forming Hydrogenations (5R01GM069445-16). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9889962. Licensed CC0.

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