Sodium hypophosphite mediated reductive amination of carbonyl compounds with N,N-dialkylformamides

Abstract

Herein we report a transition-metal- and acid-free protocol for the reductive amination of carbonyl compounds with DMF using a substoichiometric amount of NaH₂PO₂·H₂O. A set of various N,N-dimethylamines were obtained in moderate to excellent yields without chromatographic purification. The general trends and limitations of the method with different formamides as sources of dialkyl-fragments were explored.