Hydrogenation by Frustrated Lewis Pairs: Main Group Alternatives to Transition Metal Catalysts?

Since the discovery of "frustrated Lewis pairs" in 2006, these metal-free systems have been exploited to activate a variety of small molecules, with H2 being perhaps the most significant among them. This finding has since allowed for the development of metal-free strategies to hydrogenation catalysis. In this review, progress toward the development of these new catalysts for reductions of polar organic substrates, olefins, alkynes, and aromatic systems, is described.