Case study 5: Avoiding genotoxic reagents

The problem:

Our client required a new route towards a secondary amine. The traditional method that had been used previously involved genotoxic alkylating agents, over-reaction, the use of additives and generated halogenated waste. These resulted in additional costs due to the analytical and regulatory burdens, loss of the desired product and disposal costs.

The solution:

iPRD developed an alternative method for amine alkylation using a different alkylating agent that not only avoided the genotoxic reagent but also eliminated the expensive halogenated waste. In addition, the process we developed was catalytic which eliminated the requirement for additives and allowed the reactions to be tuned by solvent selection. By immobilising the catalyst, recycling and recovery of the catalyst could be carried out to give a highly efficient process with high conversions.