PURPOSE: To suppress the dearylmethylation and obtain an arylmethylamine derivative by catalytically hydrogenating a benzylamine derivative having amino group converted into a carbamate as a starting compound and then carboxylating the resultant compound.

CONSTITUTION: The method for catalytically reducing an arylmethylamine derivative of formula II (ring A is an aromatic hydrocarbon or an aromatic heterocyclic residue which may further have a substituent group other than Q; Ra is an aromatic hydrocarbon residue which may be substituted; Q is a group-convertible into amino group by reduction) is to catalytically reduce a compound of formula I (R1 is carboxyl which may be esterified or amidated) with a palladium catalyst and then remove the group R1. t-Butyloxycarbonyl group is especially preferred as the group R1 and a group of formula III (R3 is cyano or a group capable of forming an anion or convertible thereinto; X indicates that phenylene groups are mutually directly bonded or through a spacer having a ≤2C atomic chain) is preferred as the group Ra. A compound of formula IV is preferred as the compound of formula I.