Encapsulation of metal nanoparticles within metal-organic frameworks for the reduction of nitro compounds

Nitro group reduction is a reaction of a considerable importance for the preparation of bulk chemicals and in organic synthesis. There are reports in the literature showing that incorporation of metal nanoparticles (MNPs) inside metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is a suitable strategy to develop catalysts for these reactions. Some of the examples reported in the literature have shown activity data confirming the superior performance of MNPs inside MOFs. In the present review, the existing literature reports have been grouped depending on whether these MNPs correspond to a single metal or they are alloys. The final section of this review summarizes the state of the art and forecasts future developments in the field.Financial support by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Severo Ochoa and RTI2018-098237-CO21) and Generalitat Valenciana (Prometeo 2017/083) is gratefully acknowledged. S.N. is thankful for financial support by the Fundación Ramón Areces (XVIII Concurso Nacional para la Adjudicación de Ayudas a la Investigación en Ciencias de la Vida y de la Materia, 2016) and Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades CTQ-2018 RTI2018-099482-A-I00 project. AD also thanks the Science Engineering Research Board, India, for the financial support through Extra Mural Research Funding (EMR/2016/006500)