Ruthenium-catalyzed deaminative redistribution of primary and secondary amines

Abstract

A ruthenium–hydride complex, [Ru(H)(Cl)(CO)(PCy₃)₂], was found to be active in the highly selective redistribution of primary and secondary amines bearing an α-hydrogen atom. This new deaminative coupling of amines enables the highly selective synthesis of secondary amines from primary amines and of tertiary amines from secondary amines with the evolution of ammonia. A preliminary mechanistic view of this novel reaction based on catalytic experiments using NMR methods confirms the synthetic observations.