Unsymmetrical pyrenyl‐thiophene‐benzothiazole iridium complexes supported on reduced graphene oxide as an efficient catalyst for N‐alkylation of amides with alcohols.

An iridium complex based on the unsymmetrical pyrenyl‐thiophene‐benzothiazole ligand was synthesized, and the iridium complex was supported on reduced graphene oxide successfully. The developed iridium catalyst PTB‐Ir@rGO was characterized through SEM, TEM, XPS, EDS. Meanwhile, we found that this heterogeneous iridium catalyst had high catalytic activity in N‐alkylation of benzamide with alcohols via borrowing hydrogen strategy. Moreover, several control reactions and preliminary mechanism explorations were carried out to study this transformation. Finally, the recycling experiment showed that the catalyst could be reused at least five times without a significant decrease in catalytic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]