A versatile way for the synthesis of monomethylamines by reduction of N-substituted carbonylimidazoles with the NaBH₄/I₂ system

• Lin Chen,
• Xuan Zhou,
• Zhiyong Chen,
• Changxu Wang,
• Shunjie Wang and
• Hanbing Teng

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1032–1039, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.104

• monomethylamines by reduction of N-substituted carbonylimidazoles with NaBH4/I2 in THF at reflux temperature is described. This method used no special catalyst and various monomethylamines can be easily obtained in moderate to good yields from a wide range of raw materials including amines (primary amines and

• -determining step. This work can contribute significantly expanding the applications of N-substituted carbonylimidazoles. Keywords: amines; carboxylic acids; isocyanates; monomethylamines; N-substituted carbonylimidazoles; reduction; Introduction N-Methylamines are widely found in natural products, fine

• materials are mainly restricted regarding amines, in addition, expensive reagents or catalysts are usually required, which limit their applications to some extent. N-Substituted carbonylimidazoles, as important members of the carbonylimidazole family [54][55], are highly attractive intermediates with