Terpene‐Derived Highly Branched C 30 ‐Amines via Palladium‐Catalysed Telomerisation of β ‐Farnesene

The synthesis of highly branched long chain amines in one step is still a challenge. The palladium catalysed telomerisation of the renewable sesquiterpene β ‐farnesene with secondary amines yields such tertiary amines and thus, was investigated within this work. Preliminary, a suitable palladium catalyst system was developed by a high‐throughput screening. It efficiently allows for the synthesis of tertiary amines with a highly branched C 30 ‐carbon chain with yields up to 94% of the corresponding desired allylic C 30 ‐amines. The generality of the protocol was proven for thirteen amines with linear and branched alkyl and aryl groups. A clear correlation between the scaffold of the amine, basicity and the activity as nucleophile in the telomerisation was uncovered. Based on the different polarities of the nonpolar in‐situ formed C 30 ‐substituted tertiary amines and the polar solvent, a proof of concept for catalyst recovery by simple decantation was shown.