Nitriles were found to be highly effective alkylating reagents for the selective N-alkylation of amines under catalytichydrogenation conditions. For the aromatic primary amines, the corresponding secondary amines were selectively obtained under Pd/C-catalyzed hydrogenation conditions. Although the use of electron poor aromatic amines or bulky nitriles showed a lower reactivity toward the reductive alkylation, the addition of NH4OAc ...