Selective gas-phase hydrogenation of benzonitrile into benzylamine over Cu–MgO catalysts without using any additives

A clean and mild gas-phase hydrogenation of benzonitrile to benzylamine has been accomplished using Cu–MgO catalysts prepared by impregnating a freshly prepared MgO support using Cu(NO3)2·3H2O as a Cu precursor with Cu loading of 4, 8, 12 and 16%, of which 12% Cu–MgO catalyst exhibited superior activity with 98% conversion of benzonitrile and 70% selectivity of benzylamine even in the absence of any additives at atmospheric pressure. Under these optimized conditions, the selectivity of benzylamine has been significantly elevated to nearly 100% with considerable conversion.