Ruthenium-catalyzed redox-neutral and single-step amide synthesis from alcohol and nitrile with complete atom economy

Abstract

A completely atom-economical and redoxneutral catalytic amide synthesis from an alcohol and a nitrile is realized. The amide C−N bond is efficiently formed between the nitrogen atom of nitrile and the α- carbon of alcohol, with the help of an N-heterocyclic carbene-based ruthenium catalyst, without a single byproduct. A utility of the reaction was demonstrated by synthesizing 13C or 15N isotope-labeled amides without involvement of any separate reduction and oxidation step.