Ruthenium-Catalyzed Synthesis of β-Hydroxyamides from β-Ketonitriles in Water

An unprecedented hydration/transfer hydrogenation tandem process for the catalytic conversion of beta-ketonitriles into synthetically useful beta-hydroxyamides in water has been developed, making use of the ruthenium(II) complex [RuCl2(n(6)-p-cymene){P(4-C6H4F)(2)Cl}] in combination with sodium formate.