Iron-Catalysed Reductive Amination of Carbonyl Derivatives with ω-Amino Fatty Acids to Access Cyclic Amines.

An efficient method for the reductive amination of carbonyl derivatives with ω-amino fatty acids catalysed by an iron complex Fe(CO)4 (IMes) [IMes=1,3-bis(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene] by means of hydrosilylation was developed. A variety of pyrrolidines, piperidines and azepanes were selectively synthesised in moderate-to-excellent yields (36 examples, 47-97 % isolated yield) with a good functional group tolerance.