Nickel-Catalyzed Selective Monoamination of 1,2-Diols: An Affordable Approach to Amino Alcohols

The development of catalytic systems based on earth-abundant
metals
for sustainable and affordable chemical synthesis remains a significant
challenge. In this work, we report a highly efficient and selective
nickel-catalyzed monoamination of 1,2-diols to access β-amino
alcohols. The reaction proceeds under mild and benign conditions and
exhibits a broad substrate scope with excellent functional group tolerance.
Mechanistic studies reveal that the transformation occurs through
double dehydrogenation of diols, followed by selective monoamination
via a transfer hydrogenation/borrowing hydrogen tandem process.