Abstract The ruthenium-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation of electron-rich amino-substituted acetophenones is reported. Variation of the reductant, ligands, base, and solvent allowed reaction optimization. A key discovery was the use of 1, 4-butanediol as an irreversible reducing agent, which significantly improved the conversion. A range of amino-and amido- substituted aryl ketones were explored, and they all gave the corresponding alcohols in ...