Ruthenium-Catalyzed Oxidations for Selective Syntheses of Ketones and Acyl Cyanides. Selective Acylation of Amino Compounds with Acyl Cyanides

Oxidation of alcohols to the corresponding carbonyl compounds with tert-butyl hydroperoxide in the presence of dichlorotris(triphenylphosphine)ruthenium catalyst gives the corresponding carbonyl compounds with high efficiency. This method can be applied to the oxidation of cyanohydrins to give acyl cyanides which are versatile synthetic intermediates. Acylation of amino compounds with acyl cyanides thus obtained proceeds chemoselectively. Thus, the reaction of amino alcohols with acyl cyanides gives N-acylated products exclusively. In the similar N-acylation of polyamines primary amines are selectively acylated in the presence of secondary amines. These reactions are highly useful for the synthesis of spermidine and spermine alkaloids such as spermidine siderophores. Dimeric cyclocoupling reaction of diacyl cyanides such as iso- and terephthaloyl cyanides with polyamines can be performed under the similar reaction conditions to give the corresponding polyazamacrocycles with high efficiency.