Acceptorless dehydrogenation of primary alcohols to carboxylic acids by self-supported NHC-Ru single-site catalysts

•Acceptorless dehydrogenation of primary alcohols to carboxylic acids with pure hydrogen liberation.•Highly efficient and recyclable solid self-supported catalysts with single-sited catalytic centers.•Up to 99% yield and selectivity with broad substrates and sensitive functional group tolerance for both aryl and alkyl alcohols.•Under air atmosphere and at low catalyst loadings.