Concomitant Monoreduction and Hydrogenation of Unsaturated Cyclic Imides to Lactams Catalyzed by Ruthenium Compounds

One for two: [Ru4H6(p-cymene)4]Cl2 and [RuCl2(p-cymene)]2, [Ru], are efficient catalyst precursors for the selective transformation of cyclic imides into saturated lactams (see scheme). The catalytic systems operate with the same reagent (H2) to perform two transformations, namely, monoreduction of the carbonyl groups and hydrogenation of CC bonds, with the release only of water, which is the solvent of the reaction.