Ru-enabled dehydration-reductive amination of α-, β-hydroxy acids into amino acids.

The direct transformation of biomass derived α-, β-hydroxy acids into amino acids is attractive but not reported. Here we disclose an atomically dispersed Ru catalyst that unlocks a previously unrecognized dehydration-reductive amination mechanism for the selective synthesis of amino acids from α-, β-hydroxy acids. Structural characterizations confirm the presence of isolated, partially oxidized Ru centers, which selectively mediates base-assisted α-H abstraction and β-OH elimination, while simultaneously enabling direct reductive amination of the resulting enol/enolate intermediates, bypassing the conventional α-keto acid pathway. The identified dehydration-reductive amination pathway and associate Ru-based catalyst opens opportunities for transforming a wide range of biomass-derived polyols containing adjacent hydroxyl groups into useful amino-functionalized products.