One-pot Reductive Amination of Carbonyl Compounds with NaBH4-B(OSO3H)3/SiO2 in Acetonitrile and in Solvent-free Condition

An efficient one-pot procedure for the direct reductive amination of aldehyde and ketones was achieved in the presence of sodium borohydride by using B(OSO3H)3/SiO2(SBSA) as the reusable solid catalyst in acetonitrile and solvent-free conditions. Both aromatic and aliphatic aldehyde reacted well to give the corresponding amines in excellent yields. All the products are known and well-characterized. The catalyst is recoverable and could be easily recycled by filtration and reused several times without any significant loss of its activity. SBSA acts as a dual Brønsted/Lewis acid that is an air-stable and cost-effective solid acid.