GENERAL METHOD: 2-methyl-1-phenylpropan-1-one (3.05 g, 20.6 mmol) was mixed with ammonium acetate (15.8 g, 206 mmol) in anhydrous methanol (50 mL). Sodium cyanoborohydride (1.31 g, 20.6 mmol) was added and the reaction mixture was stirred at 50 °C for 18 hours. After the reaction was completed, it was cooled to room temperature and the reaction mixture was concentrated under reduced pressure. Dichloromethane (50 mL) was added to dissolve the residue and the organic phase was washed with water (3 x 50 mL). The aqueous phase was back-extracted with dichloromethane (2 x 50 mL). The organic phases were combined, washed with saturated aqueous sodium bicarbonate (50 mL), dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated. Racemic-2-methyl-1-phenylpropan-1-amine (3.96 g, 18.9 mmol, 92% yield) was obtained as a clear oil.1H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3) δ: 7.33-7.20 (m, 5H), 3.58 (d, J = 7.3 Hz, 1H), 1.90-1.79 (m, 1H), 1.57 (br s , 2H), 0.97 (d, J = 6.7 Hz, 3H), 0.76 (d, J = 6.8 Hz, 3H). The chemical shifts are upshifted by 0.04 ppm compared to literature reports.
