Catalytic Rearrangement of Aldoximes to Primary Amides in Environmentally Friendly Media under Thermal and Microwave Heating: Another Application of the Bis(allyl)-Ruthenium(IV) Dimer [{RuCl(μ-Cl)(η3:η3-C10H16)}2]

The rearrangement of aldoximes to primary amides has been studied using the commercially available bis(allyl)-ruthenium(IV) complex [{RuCl(mu-Cl)(eta(3):eta(3)-C10H16)}(2)] (1; C10H16 = 2,7-dimethylocta-2,6-diene-1,8-diyl) as a catalyst under thermal and microwave heating. The reactions proceeded cleanly in a mixture of water/glycerol (1:1) at 120-150 degrees C, without the assistance of any cocatalyst, affording the desired amides in moderate to high yields and short times. The process was operative with aromatic, heteroaromatic, aliphatic, and alpha,beta-unsaturated aldoximes and tolerated the presence of several functional groups in the substrates. In addition, the recyclability of catalyst 1 (up to six consecutive runs) could be demonstrated.