Ruthenium (II) complexes with C2- and C1-symmetric bis-(+)-camphopyrazole ligands and their evaluation in catalytic transfer hydrogenation of aldehydes

Ruthenium (II) piano-stool complexes with bis-(+)-camphopyrazole ligands of C-2 and C-1 symmetry were prepared in good yields (66 98%). New C-2-C-1 ligands and complexes were characterized by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, FT-IR and elemental analysis. The catalytic performance of the Ru(II)-bis-(+)-camphopyrazole complexes in the transfer hydrogenation of benzaldehyde and valeraldehyde using isopropanol/potassium carbonate and formic acid/triethylamine mixtures as hydrogen donors, was evaluated, resulting in moderate yields (>54%) for the reduction to the desired primary alcohols. The system with isopropanol as hydrogen source proved to be more selective than the analogous system using the azeotropic formic acid/triethylamine mixture, allowing benzyl alcohol to be obtained in quantitative yield (>99%) for a particular catalyst precursor. Furthermore, complexes with C-2 symmetry ligands showed higher yields than those with C-1 symmetry ligands in all of the evaluated systems.