Selective Ruthenium‐Catalyzed Hydration of Nitriles to Amides in Pure Aqueous Medium Under Neutral Conditions

Abstract

Simple, general, efficient, and green: Selective hydration of nitriles to amides (see scheme) can be performed in water under neutral conditions by using the novel hydrosoluble ruthenium(II) catalyst [RuCl2(η6-C6Me6)(PTA-Bn)] (PTA-Bn=1-benzyl-3,5-diaza-1-azonia-7-phosphaadamantane chloride).