1,8-Diazabicyclo(5.4.0)undec-7-ene


1,8-Diazabicycloundec-7-ene, or more commonly DBU, is a chemical compound and belongs to the class of amidine compounds. It is used in organic synthesis as a catalyst, a complexing ligand, and a non-nucleophilic base.

Occurrence

Although all commercially available DBU is produced synthetically, it can also be isolated from the sea sponge Niphates digitalis. The biosynthesis of DBU has been proposed to begin with 1,6-hexanedial and 1,3-diaminopropane.

Uses

As a reagent in organic chemistry, DBU is used as a catalyst, a complexing ligand, and a non-nucleophilic base. It is also used as a curing agent for epoxy. It is used in fullerene purification with trimethylbenzene ; and it is also used as a catalyst in polyurethane production. It has a strong catalyst effect for the reactions of alicyclic and aliphatic isocyanates. It also exhibited its dual character in the synthesis of aryl- and styryl-terminal acetylenes.