Ruthenium chloride, a new and efficient catalyst for direct amination of arenes with azodicarboxylates

An efficient cross coupling amination of arene with azodicarboxylate to afford hydrazides catalysed by ruthenium chloride has been demonstrated. The catalyst was found to be effective across a spectrum of arenes with a variety of functional groups. The yields are found to be modest to low depending on the type of substrates. The catalyst can be recycled in ligand free conditions to afford the cross coupling reaction. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.