Selective Synthesis of Secondary and Tertiary Amines by Cp*Iridium-Catalyzed Multialkylation of Ammonium Salts with Alcohols

Abstract
The efficient selective synthesis of secondary and tertiary amines has been achieved by means of Cp*Ir-catalyzed multialkylation of ammonium salts with alcohols without solvent: the reactions of ammonium acetate with alcohols gave tertiary amines exclusively, while those of ammonium tetrafluoroborate afforded secondary amines selectively. Using this method, secondary 5- and 6-membered cyclic amines were synthesized from ammonium tetrafluoroborate and diols in one pot.