Ruthenium porphyrin catalysed intermolecular amino-oxyarylation of alkenes to give primary amines via a ruthenium nitrido intermediate.

Ruthenium porphyrin catalysed direct intermolecular amino-oxyarylation of alkenes including styrenes and 1,3-dienes to give primary amines with O-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)hydroxylamine as the amine source was achieved in moderate to good yields under mild reaction conditions. Spectroscopic analyses revealed that a ruthenium nitrido complex was the key reaction intermediate for the amino-oxyarylation reaction.