Making Amines with Reductive Amination

Reductive amination is a way to make amines from carbonyl compounds and primary amines. A carbonyl compound is a molecule with a carbon-oxygen double bond. The reaction first forms an imine, and then the same mixture is reduced to give a secondary amine.

Selective reducing agents make this step w...

Recall that carbonyl compounds and primary amines react to form imines, which can be further reduced to secondary amines without isolation.

This one-pot conversion of carbonyl compounds to amines using another amine and a reducing agent is called reductive amination.

The reaction introduces a C–H and a C–N bond in place of a C=O bo...