A green and recyclable ligand-free copper (I) catalysis system for amination of halonitrobenzenes in aqueous ammonia solution

Abstract

The amination of halonitrobenzenes is an important reaction to produce the corresponding nitroanilines. Direct amination of p-chloronitrobenzene (p-CNB) to p-nitroaniline (p-NAN) with aqueous NH3 solution was investigated over various transition metal salts in the absence of ligand, inorganic base and organic solvent. It was found that CuI is the most effective catalyst with respect to p-CNB conversion, p-NAN selectivity (≈ 100%) and the post-reaction separation and recycling. A high p-NAN yield of 97% could be obtained at 200 °C in 6.5 h with molar ratios of NH3/p-CNB and CuI/p-CNB of 21 and 0.1, respectively. A possible reaction mechanism was proposed, in which NH3 was not only a substrate but also a ligand to coordinate with CuI and formed a water-soluble Cu complex, and then it started the catalytic cycle. The influence of reaction variables such as NH3 concentration, CuI concentration, temperature and time on the p-CNB conversion and the p-NAN selectivity was examined. At room temperature the desired product of p-NAN is insoluble in water but the Cu complex catalyst is water-soluble and so the aqueous phase including the catalyst and NH3 can be easily separated and reused for the subsequent reaction runs. The green and sustainable system is effective for the conversion of diverse halonitrobenzenes to nitroanilines.