Acceptorless Dehydrogenation of Alcohols Catalyzed by Cu I N ‐Heterocycle Thiolate Complexes

Cu I N ‐heterocycle thiolate clusters efficiently catalyze the acceptorless dehydrogenation of alcohols at 70 °C. A variety of secondary/primary benzylic, allylic, and aliphatic alcohols are dehydrogenated to the corresponding ketones and aldehydes in high yields of isolated product upon release of H 2 . This simple catalytic system is involved in the synthesis of imines through the one‐pot reaction of alcohols and amines.