Ruthenium Phosphine–Pyridone Catalyzed Cross-Coupling of Alcohols To form α-Alkylated Ketones

An efficient and green route to access diverse functionalized ketones via dehydrogenative–dehydrative cross-coupling of primary and secondary alcohols is demonstrated. Selective and tunable formation of ketones or alcohols is catalyzed by a recently developed proton responsive ruthenium phosphine–pyridone complex. Light alcohols such as ethanol could be used as alkylating agents in this methodology. Moreover, selective tandem double alkylation of isopropanol is achieved by sequential addition of different alcohols.