The kinetics of heterogeneous catalytic reductive amination of cyclopentanone has been studied on a pilot plant PARR autoclave. N-cyclopentyliminocyclopentane was detected as the main intermediate in a reaction mixture. It was found that, at the given conditions, the main intermediate does not form the undesirable N,N-dicyclopentylamine but undergoes slow hydrolysis, and the desired product, cyclopentylamine, results in a good yield. Slight amounts of by-products such as cyclopentanole and N,N-dicyclopentylamine were obtained. The experimental data were confronted with the suggested kinetic model. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.