A Highly Selective Cobalt Catalyst for Primary Amine Synthesis from Carboxylic Acids, Esters, and Vegetable Oils

The prevalence of carboxylic acids and esters in nature renders them diverse and conveniently accessible building blocks for chemical synthesis. In this Letter, we present a straightforward cobalt-based catalytic system for the selective synthesis of primary amines from carboxylic acid derivatives and ammonia. The current system has been demonstrated to provide an efficient synthesis route for various amine derivatives and exhibits excellent chemoselectivity despite the complex reaction network. The optimal catalyst offers broad functional group tolerance, with both (hetero)aromatic and aliphatic substrates yielding the desired primary amines in good to excellent yields. The sophisticated Co-triphos(p-anisole) system has also been demonstrated to be efficacious in the direct synthesis of fatty amines from a variety of vegetable oils. In comparison with the industrially applied fatty amine process, the approach of one-pot fatty amine synthesis presented here represents a significant advancement in the field. This approach not only overcomes the inherent challenges but also aligns with sustainability goals by utilizing renewable feedstocks.