Hydrogen-Deuterium Isotope Exchange between H₂ and D₂O catalyzed by Palladium on Activated Carbon

Abstract

Replacement of hydrogen atoms on alkyl carbons by deuterium has been the focus of much research of late. During the last several decades, development of a new synthetic method of deuterium-labeled compounds has been extensively studied. Many of the existing techniques are mainly used deuterium gas as the deuterium source although deuterium gas is quite expensive. Some studies of hydrogen-deuterium isotope exchange between D₂ and H₂O or H₂ and D₂O in strongly acidic conditions has been reported. However, the reactions were found to be very slow, with only a few turnovers of the catalyst. Herein we report that heterogeneous 10% Pd/C catalyze the H–D isotope exchange reaction between H₂–D₂O under quite mild conditions (neutral and room temperature) with unprecedented efficiency.