Cesium hydroxide promoted chemoselective N-alkylation for the generally efficient synthesis of secondary amines

[GRAPHICS] Selective N-alkylation of primary amines was developed using cesium hydroxide to prepare various secondary amines efficiently. A cesium base not only promoted monoalkylations of primary amines but also suppressed overalkylations. Various amines and alkyl bromides were examined, and the preliminary results demonstrated this methodology was highly chemoselective, favoring mono-N-alkylation over dialkylation. In particular, use of amino acid derivatives afforded the desired secondary amines exclusively.