Herein, we developed a renewable carbon-supported Ru catalyst (Ru/PNC-700), which was facilely prepared via simple impregnation followed by the pyrolysis process. The prepared Ru/PNC-700 catalyst demonstrated remarkable catalytic activity in terms of conversion and selectivity towards N-alkylation of anilines with benzyl alcohol and chemoselective hydrogenation of aromatic nitro compounds. In addition, local anesthetic pharmaceutical agents (e.g., butamben and benzocaine), including key drug intermediates, were synthesized in excellent yields under mild conditions and in the presence of water as a green solvent. Moreover, the prepared Ru/PNC-700 catalyst could be easily recovered and reused up to five times without any apparent loss in activity and selectivity. © The Royal Society of Chemistry and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.