Ruthenium tetroxide oxidation of cyclic N-acylamines by a single layer method: formation of ω-amino acids

The ruthenium tetroxide oxidation of cyclic N-acyl amines by a 10% NaIO4 aqueous solution containing tert-butanol as a single layer system resulted in the endo-cyclic C–N bond cleavage to afford the ω-amino acids as almost sole products in good yields, while a similar oxidation under the double layer using a NaIO4 aqueous solution, and ethyl acetate gave the N-acyl lactams.