Catalysis Letters, Vol.132, No.3-4, 480-486, 2009
Novel Combination of Sodium Borohydride and Reusable Polyaniline Salt Catalyst for Rapid and Efficient Reductive Amination of Carbonyl Compounds
A simple, fast and efficient method is developed for reductive amination of anthraldehydes and naphthaldehydes in a single step. In this method, sodium borohydride is used in combination with reusable polyaniline salt (PANI) catalyst for the first time. The reductive amination of anthraldehydes with amines was carried out in DCM-MeOH (3:1) solvent mixture at room temperature using NaBH4/PANI system. This method afforded the amines in excellent yields immediately without any side product. This method was successfully extended for the reductive amination of benzaldehyes, heterocyclic aldehydes, alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones. Polyaniline salt catalyst is recoverable and reusable without losing its potency. In this method, we have established the use of various polyaniline salts containing mineral, solid/liquid organic protonic acid prepared by aqueous/emulsion polymerization pathway as polymer based solid acid catalyst in the reduction amination reaction.