Ruthenium-catalyzed amide-bond formation

Abstract

The amide functionality is one of the most important functional groups in organic and biological chemistry. Classical synthetic strategies of amides involve the stoichiometric, and poor atom efficient, reaction of amines with carboxylic acid derivatives. Transition-metal-catalyzed reactions have emerged in recent years as more atom-economical and powerful tools for preparing amides, opening previously unavailable routes from substrates other than the carboxylic acids and their derivatives. Ruthenium-based catalysts have been at the heart of these advances, and this chapter pretends to give an overview of the field. Among others, the following ruthenium-catalyzed synthetic approaches of amides will be discussed: the hydration of nitriles, the hydrolytic amidation of nitriles with amines, the rearrangement of aldoximes, the coupling of aldehydes with hydroxylamine, and the dehydrogenative amidation of alcohols, aldehydes, and esters.