A molybdenum-catalyzed deoxygenation of sulfoxides, pyridine and quinoline N-oxides, N-hydroxybenzotriazoles, as well as the reduction of nitroarenes to anilines, has been developed using monocyclic terpenes such as γ-terpinene as an environmentally benign hydrogen surrogate. The only byproducts generated are water and p-cymene, under neat reaction conditions in which the terpene acts as both solvent and reducing agent. These features make this approach a highly attractive and sustainable alternative for the reduction of S-O and N-O containing compounds. Additionally, the reaction exhibited excellent chemoselectivity, tolerating a wide variety of functional groups.
