Aerobic oxidative dehydrogenation of amines to nitriles catalyzed by Co@CsETS-10 catalyst†

The CN bond is an important moiety in many different types of significant organic molecules. A facile and green approach for the aerobic oxidative dehydrogenation of primary amines, with Co@CsETS-10 as the bifunctional catalyst, to construct nitriles was developed. The electron-rich O in the –Ti–O–Ti– unit of ETS-10 was found to be able to activate the amines by interacting with two H atoms in the –NH₂ group in the absence of a base or any additives. Under these facile conditions, a series of nitriles were prepared with up to 100% yield from the direct dehydrogenation of aliphatic, aromatic and heterocyclic amines. Gramscale synthesis also demonstrates the synthetic utility of this strategy.