Continuous flow synthesis of amines from the cascade reactions of nitriles and carbonyl-containing compounds promoted by Pt-modified titania catalysts

The effective design of an active and stable catalytic system was performed by a simple modification of a commercial titania with a low platinum loading. The prepared material was fully characterized by XRD, XPS, N2 adsorption-desorption measurements, ICP-MS, TEM and SEM analyses. Such techniques corroborated the successful incorporation of Pt onto the titania surface, without affecting its original structure, morphology and chemical nature. The obtained TiO2-Pt catalyst was effectively applied in several continuous flow reactions between nitriles and carbonyl containing compounds for amine preparation. Remarkably, conversion of levulinic acid, a biomass derived molecule, was achieved with outstanding conversion (87%) and selectivity (80%) to 1-ethyl-5-methylpyrrolidin-2-one. The catalytic system demonstrated a high stability through 120 min of reaction. Moreover, the effect of the nitrile was investigated by performing the reaction with benzonitrile and ethylcyanoacetate. The TiO2-Pt catalyst was also tested in the conversion of benzaldehyde, displaying remarkable results. The influence of substitution in the aromatic ring was investigated using p-nitro-benzaldehyde and p-chloro-benzaldehyde. © 2019 The Royal Society of Chemistry.