Heterolytic activation of hydrogen gas: New evidence for Spencer–Yu hypothesis! Original Research Article

Hydrogenolysis or deuterogenolysis of organolithium compounds is described for the first time under heterogeneous catalysis. This work establishes that the carbon–lithium bond can undergo a facile reduction reaction when catalyzed by palladium or platinum catalysts and provides strong evidence for the existence of Pdδ−–Hδ+ species.