Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.137, No.2, 685-690, 2015
Tandem Catalysis of Amines Using Porous Graphene Oxide
Porous graphene oxide can be used as a metal-free catalyst in the presence of air for oxidative coupling of primary amines. Herein, we explore a GO-catalyzed carbon-carbon or/and carbon-heteroatom bond formation strategy to functionalize primary amines in tandem to produce a series of valuable products, i.e., alpha-aminophosphonates, alpha-aminonitriles, and polycyclic heterocompounds. Furthermore, when decorated with nano-Pd, the Pd-coated porous graphene oxide can be used as a bifunctional catalyst for tandem oxidation and hydrogenation reactions in the N-alkylation of primary amines, achieving good to excellent yields under mild conditions.