Oxidative coupling of primary amines to imines catalyzed by CoCl2•6H2O

A high-performance, readily available and eco-friendly cobalt catalyst has been suggested for the first time for the additive-free oxidative coupling of primary amines to imines. Different substituted benzylamine and heteroaryl methanamine compounds could be transformed into their corresponding imines in good to excellent yields over this catalyst. Meanwhile, it has been demonstrated that this catalyst can also afford the oxidative coupling of various benzylamines with o-phenylenediamine to produce benzimidazole derivatives in medium to good yields.