Cellulose-supported copper(0) catalyst for aza-Michael addition

Cellulose-supported copper(0) efficiently catalyzes the aza-Michael reaction of N-nucleophiles, such as amines and imidazoles with alpha,beta-unsaturated compounds to produce the corresponding beta-amino compounds and N-substituted imidazoles in excellent yields. The reactions are facile and the recovered catalyst is used for several cycles with consistent activity.