Reductive amination of ethyl levulinate to pyrrolidones over AuPd nanoparticles at ambient hydrogen pressure

Herein, we describe a AuPd catalyst for selective and solventless conversion of ethyl levulinate (EL) and amines to pyrrolidones under ambient pressure. The optimized Au66Pd34 nanoparticle catalyst was stable and reusable over 10 runs. AuPd catalysis was extended to reductive amination of levulinic acid and 4-acetylbutyric acid, providing a green chemistry approach under milder conditions not only to pyrrolidones, but also to piperidines, both of which are important scaffolds in designing polymers, natural products and pharmaceuticals.