Ruthenium Catalyzed Selective Hydroboration of Carbonyl Compounds

Using the [Ru(p-cymene)Cl2]2 (1) complex, catalytic hydroboration of aldehydes and ketones with pinacolborane under neat and mild conditions is reported. At rt, chemoselective hydroboration of aldehydes over the ketones is also attained. Mechanistic studies confirmed the immediate formation of monohydride bridged dinuclear complex [{(η(6)-p-cymene)RuCl}2(μ-H-μ-Cl)] (1b) from the reaction of 1 with pinacolborane, which catalyzed the highly efficient hydroboration reactions. The catalytic cycle containing mononuclear Ru-H species and intramolecular 1,3-hydride transfer is postulated.