Iron/Amino Acid Catalyzed Direct N-Alkylation of Amines with Alcohols
- Papers published
- Zhao, Yingsheng, Foo, Siong Wan and Susumu Saito, ,em>Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2011, 50, 3006-3009. 10.1002/anie.201006660
- The straightforward N-alkylation using alcohols and iron/amino acid catalysis is described. The reaction does not proceed by the conventional “borrowing hydrogen” mechanism, but appears to involve a substitution pathway (SN) at the sp3 carbon atom bearing the hydroxy group of the alcohol. Developing a catalyst that is effective at a near neutral pH was key to the successful N-alkylation.
