Rapid Continuous Ru-Catalysed Transfer Hydrogenation of Aromatic Nitriles to Primary Amines

26 Sep 2017

A continuous flow method for the selective reduction of aromatic nitriles to the corresponding amine is reported. The method is based on a ruthenium-catalysed transfer-hydrogenation process, requires no additives, and uses isopropanol as both solvent and reducing agent. The process utilizes 1 mol% of the commercially available [Ru(p-cymene)Cl2]2, with a residence time of ca. 9 min, and a throughput of 50 mmol/h. The method was successfully applied to a range of aromatic nitriles providing the corresponding primary amines in good yields.

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