Shanghai, April 30, 2025 — Researchers have developed an innovative catalyst system that streamlines the production of valuable aromatic amines, key intermediates in pharmaceuticals and chemicals. A team led by Professor Xuezhi Duan and Special Researcher Wenyao Chen from East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), in collaboration with Professor Jing He from Beijing University of Chemical Technology, devised a dual tandem switch strategy. Their work, enabling the selective synthesis of primary, secondary, and tertiary aromatic amines with yields exceeding 96%, is published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition.
Conventional multi-step synthesis of these compounds is often inefficient. To overcome this, the team designed a Ni@CMO heterojunction catalyst. Its innovation lies in incorporating two regulatory switches: a kinetic switch that accelerates rate-determining steps at specific active sites, and a thermodynamic switch that manages competitive adsorption of reactants to guide the reaction pathway.
This approach allows the precise, on-demand synthesis of three different amine types from a single reactor in a streamlined process, achieving yields all above 96%. It simplifies traditional production methods, significantly reducing energy and material consumption. The work provides a new, efficient, and green design concept for the chemical industry.
