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.