Phosphine-free ruthenium-arene complex for low temperature one-pot catalytic conversion of aldehydes to primary amides in water

A highly active phosphine-free ruthenium-arene complex, [(eta(6)-C6H6)RuCl2(C6H5NH2)], exhibits excellent catalytic performance for a one-pot conversion of aldehydes to primary amides at low temperature (60 degrees C), in water and without any inert gas protection. The reported catalyst performed exceptionally well for a huge range of aldehydes, including aromatic, heteroaromatic, aliphatic and conjugated systems, with a high tolerance for other functional groups. The development of such highly active catalysts using simple reagents will offer new opportunities for the development of improved phosphine-free catalytic systems for this and other related catalytic reactions.