Selective N-Monoalkylation of aniline derivatives by use of alkali cation exchanged X- and Y-type zeolites

Alkali cation exchanged X- and Y-type zeolites are employed to promote the reactions of aniline derivatives with alkylating agents in organic solvent. The N-alkylation is accelerated by the cooperative function of the acid and base sites on the potassium cation exchanged X- and Y-type zeolites to give the N-monoalkylated product in very high selectivity. Especially the use of the zeolite is found to be effective for N-alkylation of deactivated aromatic amines like nitroaniline. The highly selective N-monoalkylation is attributed to the reaction occurring inside the homogeneous narrow cavities of zeolites.