Goutam Brahmachari
Among various green chemistry aspects, selection of catalysts for smooth running of a particular reaction with optimum yield is an important part of the chemical process. In addition to develop novel catalytic systems (homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts) including nanomaterials and polymer grafting, still there is a tremendous scope in screening commercially available low-cost and less-toxic agents that can carry out an organic transformation of choice in an efficient manner under eco-friendly conditions. Synthetic chemists are engaged to explore this area of interest as one of the current trends in green chemistry, and as a result many such simple chemical entities have now appeared as promising catalysts in effecting a considerable number of organic reactions. Sodium formate is a low-cost commercially available substance which is reported as a less-toxic substance. We have recently demonstrated for the first time that sodium formate can be used as an efficient catalyst for smooth running of some organic transformations under eco-friendly conditions. This article sum-ups our experimental results on the catalytic efficacy of sodium formate as an eco-friendly catalyst in case of certain organic transformations of interest.
