Patent ID: 7405327

Claim:
A process for the continuous preparation of an amine, the process comprising: reacting an aldehyde and/or ketone with hydrogen and a nitrogen compound selected from the group consisting of ammonia, primary and secondary amines at a temperature in a range from 60 to 300° C. in the presence of a copper-containing catalyst, wherein a catalytically active composition of the catalyst prior to reduction with hydrogen comprises: from 20 to 85% by weight of aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ), zirconium dioxide (ZrO 2 ), titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) and/or silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ); from 1 to 70% by weight of oxygen-containing compounds of copper, calculated as CuO; from 0 to 50% by weight of oxygen-containing compounds of magnesium, calculated as MgO, oxygen-containing compounds of chromium, calculated as Cr 2 O 3 , oxygen-containing compounds of zinc, calculated as ZnO, oxygen-containing compounds of barium, calculated as BaO, and/or oxygen-containing compounds of calcium, calculated as CaO; and from 0 to 1% by weight of oxygen-containing compounds of nickel, calculated as NiO, based on the oxygen-containing compounds of copper, calculated as CuO, wherein the catalyst is prepared by coprecipitation of all the components, and the reaction is carried out isothermally in the gas phase in a tube reactor.