Hydrogen bond catalyzed direct reductive amination of ketones

…, J Hassfeld, J Li, G Menche, A Ritter, S Rudolph

Index: Menche, Dirk; Hassfeld, Jorma; Li, Jun; Menche, Gerd; Ritter, Antje; Rudolph, Sven Organic Letters, 2006 , vol. 8, # 4 p. 741 - 744

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Citation Number: 117

Abstract

A novel, biomimetic concept for the direct reductive amination of ketones is described that relies on selective imine activation by hydrogen bond formation. The mild, acid-and metal- free process requires only catalytic amounts of thiourea as hydrogen bond donor and utilizes the Hantzsch ester for transfer hydrogenation. The method allows the efficient synthesis of structurally diverse amines.