Ruthenium‐catalyzed reaction of dinitriles with primary alcohols for the synthesis of N‐alkylated cyclic β‐enaminonitriles

Abstract A novel one‐pot synthetic approach for preparing N‐alkylated cyclic β‐enaminonitriles has been developed using readily available aliphatic dinitriles and primary alcohols. This method utilizes a Ru‐MACHO complex catalyst (1 mol%) in conjunction with a strong base and a nonpolar solvent, exhibiting a broad substrate scope and excellent functional group tolerance. The process is highly atom economic, producing water as the sole by‐produc. A range of N‐alkylated cyclic β‐enaminonitriles were synthesized in good to excellent yields, and the method was successfully scaled up to gram‐scale synthesis.