Facile Synthesis of Triarylmethanimine Promoted by a Lewis Acid–Base Pair: Theoretical and Experimental Studies

An efficient method for triarylmethanimine synthesis promoted by a Lewis acid–base pair (AlCl3–Et3N) was designed using mechanistic analysis with the aid of density functional theory. A series of triarylmethanimines were successfully prepared under mild conditions in good to excellent yields with a simple work-up procedure. The promoter, the Lewis acid–base pair (AlCl3–Et3N), is inexpensive, efficient, and shows good functional group tolerance. The experimental results show that the electronic effect played a significant role, i.e. the reactions proceeded smoothly when electron-sufficient arylamines and electron-deficient ketones were used as substrates.