Simple, Practical and Eco-friendly Reduction of Nitroarenes with Zinc in the Presence of olyethylene Glycol Immobilized on Silica Gel as a New Solid–liquid Phase Transfer Catalyst in Water

Polyethylene glycol was easily grafted to silica gel and used as a solid–liquid phase transfer catalyst in the reduction of aromatic nitro compounds. This silica-grafted polyethylene glycol is proved to be an efficient heterogeneous catalyst in the reduction of nitroarenes to the corresponding aromatic amines with zinc powder in water. The reduction reactions proceeded efficiently with excellent chemoselectivity without affecting other sensitive functional groups.