Synthesis of Unsymmetrical N‑Heterocyclic Carbene–Nitrogen–Phosphine Chelated Ruthenium(II) Complexes and Their Reactivity in Acceptorless Dehydrogenative Coupling of Alcohols to Esters

Two novel ruthenium complexes RuH­(CO)­Cl­(PPh3)­(κ2-CP) (1) and [fac-RuH­(CO)­(PPh3)­(κ3-CNP)]Cl (2) bearing unsymmetrical N-heterocyclic carbene–nitrogen–phosphine (CNP) were synthesized and characterized with 1H NMR, 31P NMR, and HRMS. The structure of complex 2 was further confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. An anion exchange experiment proved that complex 2 could transform into complex 1 in solution. The two complexes exhibited a highly catalytic performance in acceptorless dehydrogenative coupling of alcohols to esters, and the excellent isolated yields of esters were given in a catalyst loading of 1% for para- and meta-substituted benzyl alcohols and long-chain primary alcohols. Although some ortho-substituted benzyl alcohols displayed a relatively low reactivity due to the steric hindrance and the coordination of electron donor with the ruthenium center, the good product yields were still obtained by prolonging the reaction time. Especially, this system successfully realized the dehydrogenative cross-coupling to esters between two different primary alcohols.