A general and selective Ni-catalysed reductive amination using hydrazine hydrate as facile hydrogen and nitrogen sources

Exploring synthetic methods and catalysts that are easy to handle, highly active, and low-cost for producing industrially important chemicals is a long-term goal in both science and industry. Herein, we present a general and facile Ni-catalyzed reductive amination of aldehydes/ketones methodology using hydrazine as both nitrogen and hydrogen sources, instead of the traditionally used hydrogen gas and ammonia. The mesostructured alumina-supported Ni catalyst with a relatively high ratio of Ni0 and small-sized Ni nanoparticles plays a critical role in this transformation, resulting in 55 aldehydes/ketones successfully converting to their corresponding primary amines with 61–99% yields. This work outlines a low-cost yet robust catalytic methodology for the facile and general synthesis of primary amines for practical laboratory and industrial application.