Highly Efficient Reductive Amination of Ethanol to Ethylamines over Non-noble Metallic NiCu/MgAlO Catalyst

In this work, a simple and efficient approach for highly selective reductive amination of ethanol to ethylamines over a bimetallic hydrotalcite-derived NiCu/MgAlO catalyst in the vapor-phase has been developed successfully. The results demonstrated that the bimetallic 9% Ni-3% Cu/MgAlO catalyst exhibited the high selectivity to ethylamines (99%), good stability (conversion was still maintained at 87.0% over 150 h test), and regenerability. The characterization results indicated that the high activity and stability of the NiCu/MgAlO catalyst was attributed to the active Ni and Cu nanoparticles with high dispersion and uniform particle size (about 4-5 nm). Furthermore, the possible reductive amination pathway of ethanol to ethylamines over a NiCu/MgAlO catalyst was also suggested. This work for the sustainable production of ethylamines from the reductive amination of ethanol under the mild conditions has potential industrial application prospects, employing non-noble metallic NiCu/MgAlO as a highly efficient and stable catalyst.