Ruthenium N‐Heterocyclic Carbene Complexes for Chemoselective Reduction of Imines and Reductive Amination of Aldehydes and Ketones

Chemoselective reduction of imines to secondary amines is catalyzed efficiently by tethered and untethered, half-sandwich ruthenium N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes at room temperature. The untethered Ru-NHC complexes are more efficient as catalysts for the reduction of aldimines and ketimines than the tethered complexes. Using the best untethered complex as a catalyst, electronic and steric demands on the reaction was probed using a series of imines. Chemoselectivity of the catalyst towards imine reduction was tested by performing inter and intramolecular competitive reactions in a variety of ways. The catalyst exhibits a very high TON and TOF under anaerobic conditions. © 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim