Direct Amide Synthesis from Alcohols and Amines by Phosphine-Free Ruthenium Catalyst Systems

✍ Scribed by Subhash Chandra Ghosh; Senthilkumar Muthaiah; Yao Zhang; Xiangya Xu; Soon Hyeok Hong

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 208 KB
• Volume: 351
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1615-4150
• DOI: 10.1002/adsc.200900482

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Amides are synthesized directly from alcohols and amines in high yields using an in situ generated catalyst from easily available ruthenium complexes such as the (p‐cymene)ruthenium dichloride dimer, [Ru(p‐cymeme)Cl~2~]~2~, or the (benzene)ruthenium dichloride dimer, [Ru(benzene)Cl~2~]~2~, an N‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligand, and a nitrogen containing L‐type ligand such as acetonitrile. The phosphine‐free catalyst systems showed improved or comparable activity compared to previous phosphine‐based catalytic systems. The in situ generated catalyst from [Ru(benzene)Cl~2~]~2~, an NHC ligand, and acetonitrile showed excellent activity toward reactions with cyclic secondary amines such as piperidine and morpholine.