Patent ID: 8415500

Claim:
A process for preparing an amine of formula I: the process comprising reacting a carbonyl compound of formula II with an amine of formula III: in the presence of i) a heterogeneous imination catalyst comprising a silicate or a mixed inorganic oxide comprising silicon, ii) a hydrogenation catalyst, and iii) hydrogen, to obtain an amine of formula I, wherein: R 1 and R 2 are different and represent an organic radical having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms and optionally comprising a heteroatom; R 3 represents a C 1 -C 6 -alkyl group; R 4 represents an aryl group which is optionally partly or fully halogenated and optionally has from one to three radicals selected from the group consisting of cyano, nitro, a C 1 -C 6 -alkyl, a C 1 -C 6 -haloalkyl, hydroxyl, a C 1 -C 6 -hydroxyalkyl, a C 1 -C 6 -alkoxy, a C 1 -C 6 -haloalkoxy, hydroxycarbonyl, a C 1 -C 6 -alkoxycarbonyl, a C 1 -C 6 -alkylamino, a di(C 1 -C 6 -alkyl)-amino, an aryl and an aryl(C 1 -C 6 -alkyl); * represents S or R configuration; and ** represents S configuration, R configuration, or both.