Ruthenium-Catalyzed Intermolecular Coupling Reactions of Arylamines with Ethylene and 1,3-Dienes: Mechanistic Insight on Hydroamination vs ortho-C−H Bond Activation

[reaction: see text]. The cationic ruthenium complex [(PCy3)2(CO)(Cl)Ru=CHCH=C(CH3)2]+BF4- was found to be an effective catalyst for the coupling reaction of aniline and ethylene to form a approximately 1:1 ratio of N-ethylaniline and 2-methylquinoline products. The analogous reaction with 1,3-dienes resulted in the preferential formation of Markovnikov addition products. The normal isotope effect of k(NH)/k(ND) = 2.2 (aniline and aniline-d7 at 80 degrees C) and the Hammett rho = -0.43 (correlation of para-substituted p-X-C6H4NH2) suggest an N-H bond activation rate-limiting step for the catalytic reaction.