Cu(I) catalyzed dehydrogenative homo coupling of aromatic amines under simple and mild reaction conditions

•Method developed is simple, clean and works under very mild reaction conditions.•Produced various azo and hydrazine derivatives from readily available chemicals•A plausible proposed catalytic mechanism has been discussed.•Reaction time is less and no toxic byproducts are produced in this reaction.•No other side reactions (Ulman products and N-oxides) were noticed.

An efficient protocol for the synthesis of a variety of azobenzenes and hydrazines from aromatic amines under mild reaction conditions is developed using Cu(I) catalyst. The copper cataylst used in this study comprises of CuBr, DMAP and AIBN. The plausible proposed mechanism for this dehydrogenative homo coupling of aromatic amines is depicted.

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