I tried this reaction method for P2P to Amph several times as I was told it would give up to 80 % yields and I can tell you this apparently is utter bullshit and yields are ridiculously low. I am sure it will not work well on P2NP as alkaline conditions as told before a not favorable for the first step.
Acidic Al/Hg works of course and with ok yields but reaction volume is large and the reaction is so violent that I know nobody who dared tp process more then for 100 g Amph at a time (and those reported also that sometimes it just blows everything to the ceiling - they only did it outsides for this reason),
Al/Ni and acid, thats just another Urushibara variation, the acid makes hydrogen from the Al which is supposed to charge the Ni which is supposed to be in the form of nanoparticles and theoretically it works of course but honestly, I cannot see it working without a pressure vessel and high purity reagents and a big piece of plain luck.
So any reaction to reduce P2NP which starts out basic (alkaline) will have very low yields (except the situation is remedied by addition of a huge amount of SiO in form of silica gel which has been calcified at up to 800 °C before use. Strictly anhydrous conditions. This will be a reaction in a slurry but it prevents the Michaels side-reaction from taking place. (800 °C for SiO are easy in a microwave btw.)
Left is the question if this system will reduce the resulting Nitro-Alkane. I do not know.
But it would be worth a shot, orecipitating CuCl2 or the Sulfate onto SiO and calcinating this and then adding P2NP in methanol/xylene, heat to boiling and add NaBH4 in portions, 4 to 5 molar equivalents at all.
I think this works as NaBH4 at elevated temps forms an addition compound with methanol which is perfectly suited for the double bond reduction, the silica gel prevents the side reaction and the Copper makes the Nitro reduction possible.
To use Cu2FeO4 nanoparticles on silica gel (prep is simple) would be the better choice though.
But you want something without NaBH4, ok, as told there is the SnCl2/HCl which works well and the SnCl2 can be prepared in situ from tin and HCl.
Then reduce the nitro with something else, there are several possible ways, but sadly reactions do not work just because somebody wrote they do or because one would really want them to work as they are so easy and use only whats on hand. I fell for this myself in the past and in the end I regretted the waste of money, time and precursors and cultivated a flaming hate for the armchair chemists who suck fictious reactions from thin air and a little knowledge but a lot of wishthinking and post the result on internet boards as if the actually did this (or wrote articles in second or third tier journals which often carry "communications" or "letters" in their names).
I hope you are aware that P2NP reduction can result in a whole plethora of different compounds depending on conditions and temps and solvents and whats the reducing agent. Like SnCl2 in methanol or ethanol gives a completely different product (alkylated) then doing it in ethyl acetate what gives the alkane. Troubleshooting without serious analytical equipment and skills is virtually not possible for this reason.
I have one other way in mind which I believe to be very promising for reducing nitroalkenes,alkanes oximes, nitriles and some more, but this I wwant to try myself first, sorry. I will make the results if noteable public anyways, I always did. I need some P2NP first though, if anybody in the EU wants to donate 50 g or 100 g, I would not say no. Its an expensive hobby if one does not sell anything and I do not sell. Not complaining just as matter of fact.