Allylamines are important motifs in pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and materials, but their direct preparation often depends on costly oxidants and complex catalyst systems. We report a practical palladium-catalyzed oxidative amination of alkenes that uses air as the oxidant and does not require specialized ligands. The method converts diverse amines and alkenes into allylamines with high selectivity and can be performed on a gram scale, offering a greener route to valuable allylamine products.

The Front Cover illustrates the systematic optimization and evaluation of reaction parameters in the transaminase-catalyzed amination of 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF) for subsequent upscaling of the biocatalytic synthesis from small-scale experiments (2 mL) to preparative reaction volumes (20 and 200 mL). More information can be found in the Research Article by T. Heinks and co-workers (DOI: 10.1002/cctc.70939). Artwork designed by the team of INMYWORK Studio.

AbstractChiral β-aryl amines are critical structural motifs in various bioactive compounds and pharmaceuticals. Amine dehydrogenases (AmDHs) offer a promising sustainable approach to catalyze the asymmetric reductive amination of β-aryl ketones to chiral β-aryl amines. However, the practical application of AmDHs is severely limited by their narrow substrate scope and notably low catalytic efficiency toward multi-substituted β-aryl ketones. Herein, we report an amine dehydrogenase from Aquisalib…

Stereodivergent engineering of an imine reductase (IRED) as guided by focused rational iterative site-specific mutagenesis (FRISM) produced a set of stereocomplementary variants that enable programmable access to all four stereoisomers of β-fluoroamines with exceptional stereoselectivity through the enzymatic dynamic kinetic reductive amination of α-fluoroketones with amines. ABSTRACT Stereodivergent synthesis of chiral molecules featuring multiple stereocenters remains a fundamental challenge…

Nature Synthesis, Published online: 10 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s44160-026-01147-9Piperidine bioisosteres are being increasingly used in medicinal chemistry; however, methods for their synthesis are underdeveloped. Now, a catalytic method for the asymmetric synthesis of enantioenriched 2-azaspiro[3.3]heptanes is reported. The process uses enantioselective reductive amination and provides access to a range of chiral piperidine bioisosteres, facilitating their application in drug discovery.

Nature Synthesis, Published online: 10 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s44160-026-01147-9Piperidine bioisosteres are being increasingly used in medicinal chemistry; however, methods for their synthesis are underdeveloped. Now, a catalytic method for the asymmetric synthesis of enantioenriched 2-azaspiro[3.3]heptanes is reported. The process uses enantioselective reductive amination and provides access to a range of chiral piperidine bioisosteres, facilitating their application in drug discovery.

[ENG] ART | amination || !sweetpea !clip !vgen | Streaming art.

Nature Communications, Published online: 22 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-76869-7Reductive amination catalysed by imine reductases and reductive aminases is a powerful method for the asymmetric synthesis of chiral amines, yet the generality and practical limitations of these enzymes remain poorly understood. Here, the authors combine large-scale, iterative activity screening, sequence analysis and machine-learning-guided exploration to profile reductive amination performance across 175 enzymes and structurally diverse substrate panels.

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Nature Communications, Published online: 22 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-76869-7Reductive amination catalysed by imine reductases and reductive aminases is a powerful method for the asymmetric synthesis of chiral amines, yet the generality and practical limitations of these enzymes remain poorly understood. Here, the authors combine large-scale, iterative activity screening, sequence analysis and machine-learning-guided exploration to profile reductive amination performance across 175 enzymes and structurally diverse substrate panels.