Copper(II)-catalyzed oxidative N-nitrosation of secondary and tertiary amines with nitromethane under an oxygen atmosphere.

The combination of a catalytic amount of Cu(OTf)2 and less than a stoichiometric amount of 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU) under an O2 atmosphere effectively promoted the N-nitrosation of both secondary aromatic/aliphatic amines and tertiary aromatic amines with nitromethane (CH3NO2) leading to the preparation of N-nitrosamine derivatives.