Imines are synthesized by the hydrogenation of pyridinecarbonitriles with amines in the presence of a rhodium-loaded catalyst. The resulting imines are stable and may be transiminated and then hydrogenated to form selected secondary amine products or may be hydrolyzed to aldehydes. Further, a very useful class of unsymmetrical secondary amines represented by the formula RCH.sub.2 NHAr (in which R is not aliphatic and Ar is aromatic and not attached to R), which has heretofore been accessible only with some difficulty, can be synthesized by processes herein disclosed utilizing the reductive intermolecular coupling of nitriles and primary aromatic amines.
                            Imine是通过在含有
铑负载催化剂的情况下,将
吡啶腈和胺进行氢化反应而合成的。所得到的
亚胺是稳定的,可以进行转移和氢化反应,形成所选的二级胺产物,也可以
水解为醛。此外,一类非常有用的不对称二级胺可通过本文所披露的过程合成,其
化学式为RCH.sub.2 NHAr(其中R不是脂肪族,Ar是芳香族且未附在R上),这种化合物以前只能通过一些困难的方法合成,本文所披露的过程利用腈和原芳香胺的还原分子偶联反应,能够实现其合成。