Selective Acceptorless Dehydrogenation of Primary Amines to Imines by Core-Shell Cobalt Nanoparticles

Abstract

Core–shell nanocatalysts are attractive due to their versatility and stability. Here, we describe cobalt nanoparticles encapsulated within graphitic shells prepared via the pyrolysis of a cationic poly-ionic liquid (PIL) with a cobalt(II) chloride anion. The resulting material has a core–shell structure that displays excellent activity and selectivity in the self-dehydrogenation and hetero-dehydrogenation of primary amines to their corresponding imines. Furthermore, the catalyst exhibits excellent activity in the synthesis of secondary imines from substrates with various reducible functional groups (C=C, C≡C and C≡N) and amino acid derivatives. © 2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.