Pincer and Diamine Ru and Os Diphosphane Complexes as Efficient Catalysts for the Dehydrogenation of Alcohols to Ketones

The ruthenium and osmium complexes [MCl2(diphosphane)(L)] (M=Ru, Os; L=bidentate amino ligand) and [MCl(CNN)(dppb)] (CNN=pincer ligand; dppb=1,4‐bis‐ (diphenylphosphino)butane), containing the N–H moiety, have been found to catalyze the acceptorless dehydrogenation of alcohols in tBuOH and in the presence of KOtBu. The compounds trans‐[MCl2(dppf)(en)] (M=Ru 7, Os 13; dppf=1,1′‐bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene; en=ethylenediamine) display very high activity and different substrates, including cyclic and linear alcohols, are efficiently oxidized to ketones by using 0.8–0.04 mol % of catalyst. The effect of the base and the comparison of the catalytic activity of the Ru versus Os complexes are reported. The ruthenium complex 7 generally leads to a faster conversion into ketones with respect to the osmium complex 13, which displays better activity in the dehydrogenation of 5‐en‐3β‐hydroxy steroids. The synthesis of new Ru and Os complexes [MCl2(PP)(L)] (PP=dppb, dppf; L=(±)‐trans‐1,2‐diaminocyclohexane, 2‐(aminomethyl)pyridine, and 2‐aminoethanol) of trans and cis configuration is also reported. Alcohol breakdown: Ruthenium and osmium phosphane complexes containing nitrogen ligands with the N–H functionality efficiently catalyze the acceptorless dehydrogenation of alcohols. With [MCl2(dppf)(en)] (M=Ru, Os; dppf=1,1′‐bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene; en=ethylenediamine) in the presence of KOtBu several alcohols have been converted into ketones (see scheme), including sterols for which Os displays a better activity than Ru.