Secondary Amine Formation from Reductive Amination of Carbonyl Compounds Promoted by Lewis Acid Using the InCl3/Et3SiH System

A robust and reliable method has been developed for reductive amination of primary amines with various aldehydes and ketones using Zn(ClO4)(2)center dot 6H(2)O as a catalyst. [In-H] generated in situ via a combination of InCl3 and Et3SiH is employed as an effective reducing system. A variety of secondary amines can be synthesized in a one-pot procedure in excellent yields.