DOI 10.1039/D1OB02214H KEYWORDS Acetonitrile complex; N-Alkylation ABSTRACT An efficient ruthenium-catalyzed N-alkylation of amines, amides and sulfonamides has been developed employing novel pentamethylcyclopentadienylruthenium(II) complexes bearing the methylene linked bis(NHC) ligand bis(3-methylimidazol-2-ylidene)methane. The acetonitrile complex 2 has proven particularly effective with a broad range of substrates with low catalyst loading (0.1–2.5 mol%) and high functional group tolerance under mild conditions. A […]