Ordered hexagonal mesoporous aluminosilicates and their application in ligand-free synthesis of secondary amines

A new facile synthesis of ordered mesoporous aluminosilicates has been developed and applied for the efficient catalytic synthesis of N-benzyl secondary amines under ligand and base-free conditions. The MAS(38) catalyst with a well-ordered mesoporous structure and strong acidic sites was used for acid-catalyzed organic transformations and its operational simplicity and ease of its isolation procedure make it an attractive alternative to current methodologies. Get hexed! Mesoporous aluminosilicates were successfully synthesized and applied as ligand, base-free heterogeneous catalysts for C-N bond formation between benzyl alcohol and aniline for various N-benzyl secondary amines with excellent activity and selectivity.