| Summary: | Two- and three-coordinate manganese m-terphenyl complexes are precatalysts for the dehydrogenation of dimethylamine-borane (Me2NH·BH3) affording one equivalent of molecular hydrogen and half an equivalent of [Me2N–BH2]2. Experimental studies into the nature of the catalyst indicate that small changes in the coordination environment give rise to significant differences in the reaction mechanism, occurring through a homogeneous mechanism for two-coordinate precatalysts, whilst for the three-coordinate species a heterogeneous mechanism takes place where nanoparticles are responsible for the catalysis.
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