[(PPh)NiCl]-Catalyzed C-N Bond Formation Reaction via Borrowing Hydrogen Strategy: Access to Diverse Secondary Amines and Quinolines.

Commercially available [(PPh)NiCl] was found to be an efficient catalyst for the mono--alkylation of (hetero)aromatic amines, employing alcohols to deliver diverse secondary amines, including the drug intermediates chloropyramine () and mepyramine (), in excellent yields (up to 97%) via the borrowing hydrogen strategy. This method shows a superior activity (TON up to 10000) with a broad substrate scope at a low catalyst loading of 1 mol % and a short reaction time. Further, this strategy is also successful in accessing various quinoline derivatives following the acceptorless dehydrogenation pathway.