Acceptorless dehydrogenative construction of C[double bond, length as m-dash]N and C[double bond, length as m-dash]C bonds through catalytic aza-Wittig and Wittig reactions in the presence of an air-stable ruthenium pincer complex.

The construction of C?N bonds was achieved by the dehydrogenative coupling of alcohol and azide via aza-Wittig type reaction. The reaction is catalyzed by an acridine-derived ruthenium pincer complex and does not use any oxidant. The present protocol offers a wide substrate scope, including aliphatic, aryl or heteroaryl alcohol/azides. This expeditious protocol was successfully applied to construct a C?C bond directly from alcohol via dehydrogenative Wittig reaction. Furthermore, the synthesis of structurally important pyrrolo[1,4]benzodiazepine derivatives was also achieved by this methodology.