Reduction of hydrobenzamides: a strategy for synthesizing benzylamines

Indirect reductive amination of aromatic aldehydes was studied in this work; aqueous ammonia was used as a nitrogen source. The results showed that aromatic aldehydes’ reaction with aqueous ammonia produced compounds known as hydrobenzamides (N,N´-(phenylmethylene)bis(1-phenylmethanimines), having good yield. The reaction of hydrobenzamides with sodium borohydride reduced both imine and aminal carbons and produced a primary and secondary benzylamine mixture. This article analyses such behaviour and proposes a possible mechanism for explaining such transformation.

The reaction of aromatic aldehydes with aqueous ammonia produced compounds known as hydrobenzamides (N,N´-(phenylmethylene)bis(1-phenylmethanimines). The reaction of hydrobenzamides with sodium borohydride reduced both imine and aminal carbons and produced a primary and secondary benzylamine mixture.