Abstract New highly active ansa-ammonium borate catalysts for the direct metal-free hydrogenation of imines were prepared by tuning of the basicity and steric bulkiness of their amine moieties. The highest catalytic activity among previously reported organocatalytic systems was shown for a wide range of nitrogen-containing substrates. The first example of asymmetric imine hydrogenation based on the ansa-ammonium borate concept was ...
