Room-temperature synthesis of primary amines by selective hydrogenation of nitriles over ZnAlOx supported Ni catalysts

Selective hydrogenation of nitriles is a feasible route to synthesize primary amines. While highly desirable, conducting the synthesis under mild conditions is challenging. We report non-precious zinc and aluminum oxides supported Ni catalysts (Ni/ZnAlO x ) facilely prepared by calcination and reduction of NiZnAl layered double hydroxide (LDH) precursors. The optimized Ni/ZnAlO x -600 catalyst demonstrates great activity towards the selective hydrogenation of nitriles to primary amines. Proper-size metallic nickel provides the hydrogenation centers, and the presence of Ni-Zn alloys indicates strong metal-support interactions, which can produce electron-deficient nickel species and enhances the chemisorption of the C N bonds on the catalyst surface. The introduction of Zinc provides strong Lewis acid sites which also contribute to the catalytic activity. Based on the catalyst characterizations and control experiments, a plausible mechanism is proposed. This catalyst shows good stability and is conducive to the transformation of a variety of aromatic and aliphatic substrates, demonstrating potential application prospects.