Nickel Foam Reaction Yields Valuable Aromatic Amines

Cheap reagent used in batteries selectively reduces nitroaromatics

Apr. 8, 2026 at 5:54pm

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A highly structured abstract painting in soft blues, greens, and grays, featuring sweeping geometric arcs, concentric circles, and precise botanical spirals, conceptually representing the complex chemical transformation of nitroarenes to aromatic amines using an innovative nickel foam catalyst.A novel nickel foam-based reaction offers a simple, scalable route to valuable aromatic amines, a key building block in drug synthesis and other industries.San Diego Today

Chemists at Queen's University in Canada have developed a simple reaction that uses inexpensive nickel foam to convert nitroarenes into aromatic amines, a key transformation in organic chemistry. The process is compatible with air and moisture, and leaves other functional groups like halogens untouched, making it particularly useful for medicinal chemists.

Why it matters

Aromatic amines are widely used in pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, polymers, and fine chemicals, so a simple and environmentally responsible route for making them is important. The nickel foam reagent is inexpensive, bench-stable, and compatible with many functional groups, making it an attractive alternative to traditional methods that often require harsher reagents and generate more waste.

The details

The reaction takes advantage of a form of nickel that's cheap and readily available because it's used in mass-produced batteries. It hinges on a sequential two-electron reduction, where the hydrogen comes from hydrogen chloride generated from acetyl chloride. This converts the nickel(II) on the surface of the nickel foam to Ni(0), which does the reduction. The chemists show they can make expensive aromatic amines with a multitude of functional groups from inexpensive nitroaromatics on gram scale, and use the reaction to synthesize several drug molecules.

  • The research was published on April 8, 2026.

The players

P. Andrew Evans

A chemist at Queen's University in Canada who led the research team that developed the nickel foam reaction.

Gregory Jerkiewicz

A chemist at Queen's University in Canada who collaborated with P. Andrew Evans on the research.

Angie Angeles

The head of process chemistry at Vertex Pharmaceuticals' San Diego site, who commented on the potential of the nickel foam reaction.

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What they’re saying

“It's a genuinely simple, easy, practical method for doing something that's often quite hard.”

— P. Andrew Evans, Chemist, Queen's University

“The fact that the nickel foam 'is inexpensive, bench-stable, and compatible with many functional groups makes it especially attractive compared to traditional methods that often require harsher reagents and generate more waste.”

— Angie Angeles, Head of Process Chemistry, Vertex Pharmaceuticals

What’s next

Evans says he's looking to scale up the transformation, and expects that after other chemists see this paper, they will start trying out metal foams in reactions beyond the domain of electrochemistry.

The takeaway

This new nickel foam reaction provides a simple, environmentally responsible, and scalable method for converting nitroarenes into valuable aromatic amines, a key transformation in organic chemistry with wide applications in pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and other industries.