seems like a nice one-pot method for the reduction of imines with Zn/AcOH...
Synthesis of Bis[di(2-pyridyl)methyl]amine (BDPMA) by a Novel One-Pot Multi-Step Reductive Amination with Molecular Sieves and Zn/iPrOH(Michael Renz, Catherine Hemmert, Bernard Meunier)European Journal of Organic Chemistry 1998, 7 (1271-1273)![](https://www.thevespiary.org/rhodium/Rhodium/hive/hiveboard/picproxie_imgs/pdf.gif)
Keywords
Reductive amination; Zinc; Pentadentate ligand; Polypyridine ligand
Abstract
Bis[di(2-pyridyl)methyl]amine (BDPMA) has been syn-thesized by refluxing di-2-pyridyl ketone and di-(2-pyridyl)methylamine in isopropanol in the presence of molecular sieves and acetic acid and subsequent reduction with zinc dust. The established methods for reductive amination, i.e. NaBH3CN, NaBH(OAc)3 and NaBH4, failed in the synthesis of BDPMA due to a disfavored equilibrium towards the imine formation and therefore long reaction times were required, involving side reactions. The presented method can be used on large-scales and tolerates aromatic heterocycles as functional groups.indole_amine