Hydrogenation of amides catalyzed by a combined catalytic system of a Ru complex with a zinc salt.

Addition of catalytic amounts of zinc salts facilitated the hydrogenation of amides catalyzed by a ruthenium complex bearing 2-(diphenylphosphino)ethanamine (L1). The combined catalytic system of the ruthenium complex [RuCl2(L1)2] with a zinc salt such as Zn(OCOCF3)2 mediated hydrogenation of various amides under mild conditions to afford the corresponding primary alcohols.