Highly selective oxidation of amines to imines by Mn2O3 catalyst under eco-friendly conditions

Enhancing the selectivity of imines for the oxidative self-coupling of primary amines was found to be challenging in the heterogeneous catalysis. Three different manganese oxides (M-3, M-4, M-5) were synthesized by controlling the calcination temperature using a simple template-free oxalate route. The prepared manganese oxides were systematically characterized using XRD, N-2 sorption, SEM, TEM, XPS, H-2-TPR techniques. M-4 gave 96.2% selectivity of imine at 100% conversion of benzylamine, which was far more superior than other existing protocols. Mn3+/Mn4+ ratio was found to affect the selectivity of the imines. The probable reaction pathway for amines oxidation catalyzed by manganese oxides was proposed for the first time. (C) 2019 Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.