A recyclable Ru(II) complex has been found to be highly active for the aqueous phase nitrile hydration at 100°C in air.
Brian Frost and Wei-Chih Lee from the University of Nevada, USA, used the Ru complex [RuCl2(PTA)4] for the aqueous or biphasic hydration of nitriles. Other approaches to this reaction suffer air-sensitive or non-recyclable catalysts as well as requiring organic solvents. However, in the method developed by Frost, the reaction can be performed under an air atmosphere and the catalyst can be reused more than five times without significant loss of activity. This reaction can convert aromatic, alkyl, and vinyl nitriles to their corresponding amides in near quantitative conversions.
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Aqueous and biphasic nitrile hydration catalyzed by a recyclable Ru(II) complex under atmospheric conditions, Wei-Chih Lee and Brian J. Frost, Green Chem., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C1GC15950J
