Catalytic activity of two Ru(II) complexes in transfer hydrogenation reaction of simple ketones

Abstract

Hydrogen transfer reduction reactions have been attracted significant attention in organic synthesis due to their operational easiness. For this purpose, two Ru(II) complexes of P-N-P ligand were prepared starting from [Ru(?6-p-cymene) (?-Cl)Cl]2. Then, their catalytic activity was investigated in the transfer hydrogenation of different simple alkyl and aryl alkyl ketones to respective alcohols in the existence of isopropanol as the hydrogen source. Notably, 2 exhibits a good catalytic activity and affords the respective alcohols with good conversions up to 98 % (TOF: 392 h-1).