Catalytic Amination of Alcohols and Its Potential for the Synthesis of Amines

This chapter provides a brief review of the present state of knowledge of the copper-catalyzed amination of aliphatic alcohols and illustrates the potential of the catalytic amination for the synthesis of amino alcohols, diamines, and cyclic amines. Several aspects learned from the investigation of the copper-catalyzed amination of aliphatic alcohols seem to be relevant also for other amination reactions. The selectivity to the desired amine is mainly influenced by the disproportionation of reactant and product amines and by consecutive reactions if ammonia and primary amines are used to produce primary and secondary amines, respectively. Catalytic amination of alcohols has gained considerable importance for the synthesis of aliphatic and cyclic amines. Most reactions can be carried out efficiently in continuous reactor systems, and in many cases high pressure is not necessary.