Reductive amination of nitriles using transfer hydrogenation

摘要

This disclosure describes a low temperature process for the preparation of tertiary amines from nitriles and secondary amines via reductive amination using transfer hydrogenation. The process can use a nitrile and a dialkylamine and proceeds under surprisingly mild conditions using a palladium catalyst and the corresponding dialkylammonium formate as the hydrogen donor, and show a pronounced acceleration in the presence of water.