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Updated: Jan 19, 2026
Preparation of Amines: Reduction of Amides and Nitriles
Primary amides to amines or nitriles: a dual role by a single catalyst
Hari S Das1, Shyamal Das1, Kartick Dey1
1Department of Chemical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research-Kolkata, Mohanpur-741246, India. swadhin.mandal@iiserkol.ac.in.
Abstract:
We report a manganese-catalyzed hydrosilylative reduction of various primary amides to amines (25 examples). On simple modification of the reaction conditions such as in the presence of a catalytic amount of secondary amide, the same catalyst can transform the primary amides into intermediate nitrile compounds (16 examples) in excellent yields. This is the first example where such a controlled catalytic transformation of primary amides to amines or nitriles with a single catalyst has been demonstrated.
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