Chemoselective transfer hydrogenation of nitriles to secondary amines with nickel(II) catalysts

Herein we report the selective transfer hydrogenation (TH) of nitriles to secondary (2 degrees) amines with simple Ni (II)-catalysts using ammonia borane (AB) as a source of hydrogen (H2). A bis(pyrazolylmethyl)pyridine (L1) or ethylenediamine (L4) ligated Ni(II) pre-catalyst, created in situ, could hydrogenate several aromatic- and aliphatic nitriles in full conversions and isolated yields of up to 88% under ambient temperature and in very short reaction times. Deuterium labelling experiments illustrated the incorporation of a proton on the nitrogen and hydride on the alpha-carbon of dibenzylamine. Using alpha-picoline borane, containing no dissociable protons, assisted with the postulation of a two-step TH mechanism of benzonitrile. AB was subjected to dehydrogenation and it was observed that a maximum of 2.96 equivalents of H2 gas could be generated from NiCl2.6H2O/L1.