Horn, SabineSabineHornGandolfi, ClaudioClaudioGandolfiAlbrecht, MartinMartinAlbrecht2015-05-182015-05-182011 Wiley2011-06European Journal of Inorganic Chemistryhttp://hdl.handle.net/10197/6570N-Heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ruthenium complexes consisting of different donor substituents attached to the NHC ligand efficiently catalyse the transfer hydrogenation of ketones and of activated olefins in α,β-unsaturated ketones to give saturated alcohols. The most active catalyst precursor contains a tethered olefin as a hemilabile donor site. This complex also converts nitriles and, depending on the reaction conditions, either benzylamines are produced by means of transfer hydrogenation, or amides from formal addition of H2O. Kinetic analysis of the double hydrogenation of α,β-unsaturated ketones indicates fast isomerisation of the enol intermediate to its saturated ketone tautomer prior to the second hydrogenation.enThis is the author's version of the following article: Sabine Horn, Claudio Gandolfi and Martin Albrecht (2011) "Transfer Hydrogenation of Ketones and Activated Olefins Using Chelating NHC Ruthenium Complexes" European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, 2011(18) : 2863-2868 which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ejic.201100143RutheniumN-Heterocyclic carbeneHydrogenationTransfer hydrogenationKetonesChemoselectivityAsymmetric transfer hydrogenationEnantioselective transfer hydrogenationHighly efficient catalystsCarbonyl-compoundsCarbene complexesAllylic alcoholsBase hydrolysisMechanistic aspectsIridium complexesPolar bondsJournal Article2011182863286810.1002/ejic.2011001432015-05-12https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ie/