Oxidative Coupling of Benzylamines to Imines by Molecular Oxygen Catalyzed by Cobalt(II) β-Tetrakis(trifluoromethyl)-meso-tetraphenylporphyrin

Oxidative coupling of benzylamines to imines by molecular oxygen is efficiently realized in the presence of very low catalyst loadings of Co(II) β-tetrakis(trifluoromethyl)-meso-tetraphenylporphyrin. Due to the effect of four β-CF3 groups, the catalyst shows good selectivity and very high turnover number. The reaction is easily scaled up and may provide a convenient way to prepare many imines in large scale.