Patent ID: 8450530

Claim:
A process for preparing unsymmetric secondary tert-butylamines of the formula I where R is selected from the group of hydrogen, linear or branched aliphatic radicals having one to 15 carbon atoms, cycloaliphatic radicals having 5 to 10 carbon atoms, aralkyl radicals or phenyl radicals which may be o-, m- and/or p-substituted by aliphatic radicals having one to 4 carbon atoms, by continuously aminating alcohols of the formula II or aldehydes of the formula III with tert-butylamine and hydrogen in the gas phase in the presence of hydrogenation catalysts, comprising the following steps: (i) providing a reactor filled with the hydrogenation catalyst, (ii) heating the reactor to temperatures in the range from 60 to 240° C. and applying a pressure in the range from 1 to 100 bar, (iii) continuously adding hydrogen, tert-butylamine and an alcohol of the formula II R—CH 2 OH II or an aldehyde of the formula III R—CHO III to the reactor according to step (ii), where the molar ratio of alcohol of the formula II or aldehyde of the formula III to tert-butylamine is in the range from 0.5:1 to 1.4:1, and R both for the alcohol of the formula II and for the aldehyde of the formula III is as defined for R in formula I, (iv) cooling and decompressing the reactor and withdrawing the hydrogenation output obtained from step (iii).