Easy ruthenium-catalysed oxidation of primary amines to nitriles under oxidant free conditions.

A dehydrogenation of primary amine to give the corresponding nitrile under oxidant- and base-free conditions catalysed by simple [Ru(p-cym)Cl-2](2) with no extra ligand is reported. The system is highly selective for alkyl amines, whereas benzylamine derivatives gave the nitrile product together with the imine in a ratio ranging from 14:1 to 4:1 depending on the substrate. Preliminary mechanistic investigations have been performed to identify the key factors that govern the selectivity.