Ruthenium Complex Catalyzed Regioselective Dehydrogenation of Unsymmetrical α,ω-Diols

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/jo00361a018

Ruthenium complex catalyzed regioselective dehydrogenation of unsymmetrically substituted 1,4- and 1,5-diols in the presence of such a hydrogen acceptor as α,β-unsaturated ketone gave predominantly β-substituted γ-lactones and γ-substituted δ-lactones, respectively.Among the ruthenium complexes, RuH2(PPh3)4 was the most active and selective catalyst and showed high catalytic activity even at 20 deg C.For example, 2,2-dimethyl-1,4-butanediol was quantitatively converted to dihydro-4,4-dimethyl-2(3H)-furanone and dihydro-3,3-dimethyl-2(3H)-furanone in a ratio of 99.6/0.4 in the presence of 4-phenyl-3-buten-2-one (hydrogen acceptor) and a catalytic amount of RuH2(PPh3)4 at 20 deg C.The proposed main factor controlling the regioselectivity is the steric constraints produced by the substituent(s) of a diol at the coordination step of alkoxy group to ruthenium.