Cobalt-Catalyzed Reductive C-O Bond Cleavage of Lignin β-O-4 Ketone Models via In Situ Generation of the Cobalt-Boryl Species.

An efficient and mild method for reductive C-O bond cleavage of lignin β-O-4 ketone models was developed to afford the corresponding ketones and phenols with PDI-CoCl2 as the precatalyst and diboron reagent as the reductant. The synthetic utility of the methodology was demonstrated by depolymerization of a polymeric model and gram-scale transformation. Mechanistic studies suggested that this transformation involves steps of carbonyl insertion, 1,2-Brook type rearrangement, β-oxygen elimination, and rate-limiting regeneration of the catalytic active Co-B species.