Oxo-tethered ruthenium(II) complex as a bifunctional catalyst for asymmetric transfer hydrogenation and H2 hydrogenation.

Newly developed oxo-tethered Ru amido complexes (R,R)-1 and their HCl adducts (R,R)-2 exhibited excellent catalytic performance for both asymmetric transfer hydrogenation and the hydrogenation of ketonic substrates under neutral conditions without any cocatalysts to give chiral secondary alcohols with high levels of enantioselectivity.