Ruthenium-Catalyzed Selective Mono -Ethylation of Arylamines and Tandem Reduction/-Ethylation of Nitroarenes Using Triethylamine and Formic Acid.

The mono -alkylation of arylamines using alkylamines as alkyl group donors has been scarcely investigated. In this work, we report the mono -alkylation of several arylamines (52-95%) catalyzed by the complex ruthenium-triphos in the presence of Al(OTf). Moreover, the highly reductant ability of the catalyst system allows the tandem reduction/-alkylation of nitrobenzenes in good yields (up to 80%).

Selective reduction of nitroarenes using Ru/C and CaH.

Herein, we report an efficient and highly selective method for the reduction of aromatic, heteroaromatic and halonitro compounds using the readily available and cost-effective Ru/C as a catalyst along with unconventional CaH as a source of hydride. In most cases the corresponding anilines can be obtained by simple filtration without further purification. The use of 2-MeTHF and the simple operational work-up constitute a valid alternative to previous methodologies.