Hydroaminomethylation of Natural Allylic and Homoallylic Alcohols: A Ligand‐Controlled Route to New Amines

Abstract

Hydroaminomethylation (HAM) is a tandem catalytic process that allows accessing amines from olefin scaffolds and is perfectly aligned with green chemistry precepts. In this work, HAM was applied to the natural hydroxyolefins: isoprenol, linalool, nerolidol, and isopulegol. Employing 4‐methylpiperidine, morpholine, and 1,2,3,4‐tetrahydroisoquinoline as counterparts, several new, structurally complex amines were prepared from biorenewable, low‐cost substrates, opening a path to exploit this structure diversity in biological activity. By the appropriate choice of rhodium‐based catalytic systems, as well as the reaction conditions, the necessary fine tuning for each counterpart was achieved. The unpromoted rhodium system leaded mostly to aminoalcohols, while certain phosphorus(III)‐promoted rhodium systems afforded amines containing a tetrahydropyran or a tetrahydrofuran moiety in moderate to high yields.