Amination of benzylic C–H bonds by aryl azides catalysed by CoII(porphyrin) complexes. A new reaction leading to secondary amines and iminesFormulae of the catalysts and of the organic products and Fig. 1, the influence of the toluene concentration on the value of kapp are available as supplementary data. For direct electronic access see http://www.rsc.org/suppdata/cc/b0/b006136k/

Abstract

Co^II(porphyrin) complexes catalyse the reaction of aromatic azides, ArN₃, with hydrocarbons containing a benzylic group, R¹R²R³CH, to give the corresponding amines, R¹R²R³C-NHAr. When at least one of the R¹–R³ substituents is hydrogen, the catalytic reaction proceeds further to give the imines R¹R²CNAr in good yields.