One-pot amination of natural monoterpene alcohols was studied over Au/ZrO2 catalyst, focusing on the structure effect of substrates selected based on their pharmaceutical relevance. Bicyclic (myrtenol and nopol, bearing an unconjugated -OH group) and monocyclic (perillyl) alcohols were chosen for aniline amination under comparable conditions. Utilization of nopol resulted in a tenfold decrease in the reaction rate from that for myrtenol, increasing selectivity to the amine. The influence of secondary transformation was more noticeable for monocyclic perillyl alcohol with a conjugated-OH group. Myrtenol amination was explored with a range of aliphatic and aromatic amines, showing that the primary amine structure affected both the initial dehydrogenation rate and the selectivity to the desired amine. A good correlation was found between substrate structure and reactivity using the Hammett equation. The myrtenol consumption rate was tentatively proposed to be affected by the Au2+ availability required for alcohol dehydrogenation. Propanol-2, introduced as a hydrogen donor, improved the yield of the target amine. (C) 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.