Non-aggregated ruthenium naphthalocyanine enabling homogeneous carbene insertion into N–H bonds at low catalyst loading†

Abstract

The novel ruthenium octa-n-butoxy-naphthalocyanine complex was shown to retain an essentially monomeric state in dilute solutions. It was successfully applied as a homogeneous catalyst for carbene insertion into N–H bonds of amines with various substitution patterns, providing high yields of glycine derivatives.