A Practical Procedure for Reduction of Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Amides to Amines.

A mild and general procedure for reduction of primary, secondary, and tertiary amides using catalytic triruthenium dodecacarbonyl and 1,1,3,3-tetramethyldisiloxane as reductant is described. The reaction is tolerant of numerous functional groups, and the amine products can often be isolated by direct crystallization as hydrochloride salts. The catalyst and silane are commercially available, air stable, and inexpensive, making the procedure accessible for both laboratory and large-scale applications.