A chemoselective transformation of amines to their tert-butyloxycarbonyl (Boc) protected derivatives (NBoc) is described using Cu-NPs under solvent-free conditions. Simple method, rapid reaction rate, mild conditions, tolerance of a wide range of functional groups, excellent yield, ease recovery and high catalytic turnover are the salient features of this approach. tert-Butyloxycarbonylation of chiral amino acid esters and amino alcohols were performed without racemization. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd