Transfer your hydrogen: Fast and general transfer hydrogenation of nitriles to form primary amines is possible with a homogeneous Ru/1,4-bis(diphenylphosphino)butane (DPPB) catalyst (see scheme). The use of 2-butanol as the hydrogen-transfer reagent is essential for the selective reduction of aromatic, heteroaromatic, and aliphatic nitriles with this system.
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