An overview of iron‐catalyzed N‐alkylation reactions

Abstract

N‐containing compounds are very important molecules in nature and in the field of synthetic organic chemistry. N‐alkylation reactions play crucial role in the area of pharmaceuticals and various other industrial chemical syntheses. Iron‐catalyzed N‐alkylation reactions have attained greater acceptance among the scientific community. Environmentally benign, abundant, nontoxic, biocompatible, reusable, and inexpensive iron catalysts are gaining more attention in various research fields. Green protocols, milder reaction conditions, wide substrate scope, and so forth, signify the prominent nature of iron‐catalyzed N‐alkylation reactions. Most of the protocols are eco‐friendly and atom economic since water is the only by‐product. This review gives an overview of the advances in the Fe‐catalyzed N‐alkylation reactions covering literature up to 2021.

Highly Efficient Base Catalyzed N‐alkylation of Amines with Alcohols and β‐Alkylation of Secondary Alcohols with Primary Alcohols

“…N-substituted amines play an important role in the production of bulk and fine chemicals such as pharmaceuticals, polymers, agrochemicals etc. [2] Traditionally, this transformation has been carried out with stoichiometric amounts of toxic reagents such as alkyl halides that generates large amounts of waste. [3] However, in the last decade, using the BH methodology transition metal (TM) catalyzed Nalkylation reactions have been extensively explored generating only water as the byproduct (Figure 1).…”

“…Various metal and ligand systems have been reported to operate via the BH methodology to carry out many important catalytic transformations [1a] one example being the N ‐alkylation of amines with alcohols. N ‐substituted amines play an important role in the production of bulk and fine chemicals such as pharmaceuticals, polymers, agrochemicals etc [2] . Traditionally, this transformation has been carried out with stoichiometric amounts of toxic reagents such as alkyl halides that generates large amounts of waste [3] .…”

Recent advances in C/N-alkylation with alcohols through hydride transfer strategies

“…4 Established pioneers of hydrogen shuttle catalysis have covered these methodologies to some extent in previous reviews focusing on relevant subtopics such as synthesizing heterocycles 5,6 and designing ligands. 7,8 Additionally, previous reviews have been published introducing the background and perspective of each individual metal separately: Co by Kundu 9 and Young, 10 Mn (Mukherjee), 11 Ru and Ir (Rit), 12 and Fe (Anilkumar), 13 to name but a few.…”

Interdigital Micromixer for Selective N-Monoalkylation of Anilines in a Microflow System

“…Therefore, the microreactor technology has great potential in improving the selectivity and yield of N -monoalkylation of anilines. However, the hot topic in the N -monoalkylation reaction focuses on the development of a novel catalytic system for high selectivity . Few studies have reported the N -monoalkylation of anilines using the microreactor technology, especially for the process intensification through the use of a micromixer.…”

“…However, the hot topic in the Nmonoalkylation reaction focuses on the development of a novel catalytic system for high selectivity. 17 an interdigital micromixer was optimized based on numerical simulation. Meanwhile, the mixing performance of this micromixer was also evaluated through CFD simulation.…”