Substrate-promoted copper-catalyzed N-arylation of amino alcohols with aryl iodides in water

An efficient method has been developed for the N -arylation of a variety of water-soluble amino alcohols (1.2 mmol) with aryl iodides (1.0 mmol) in water under CuI-catalyzed conditions. The reaction was conducted via substrate-promoted action and did not require an additional ligand or phase-transfer catalyst, and afforded the desired N -aryl amines in acceptable to excellent yields (64%–93%) under mild reaction conditions with a small excess of the amino alcohol.