The Hydroamination of methyl acrylates with amines over zeolites

H-form zeolites, H-FAU and H-BEA have been studied as heterogeneous catalysts for the hydroamination. They catalyzed the reaction of methyl acrylate with aniline to give N-[2-(methoxycarbonyl)ethyl]aniline (1) as a main product. H-BEA and H-FAU zeolites efficiently catalyzed the hydroamination to afford anti-Markovnikov adduct as a main product. The conversion of aniline around 55–85% was achieved within 18 h over H-BEA and H-FAU zeolites with SiO₂/Al₂O₃ molar ratio of 25–30; however, the formation of N,N-bis[2-(methoxycarbonyl)ethyl]aniline (2) as a product of double addition of methyl acrylate to aniline has also been observed as a by-product over H-BEA and H-FAU catalysts. The influences of the reaction parameters such as temperature and catalyst amount, and type of α,β-unsaturated esters and amines have been also investigated.