NOVELTY - Direct amination of hydrocarbons into amino hydrocarbons, comprises reacting feed stream containing at least one hydrocarbon and at least one aminating reagent to obtain a reaction mixture containing amino hydrocarbon and hydrogen, and electrochemically separating at least one portion of the produced hydrogen by a gas-tight membrane-electrode assembly, where at least one of the hydrogen is oxidized to protons in the anode and in the cathode, the proton is reduced to hydrogen or reacted with oxygen to form water and oxygen originates from an oxygen-containing stream.    USE - The method is useful for direct amination of hydrocarbons into amino hydrocarbons, where the hydrocarbon is toluene, benzene, or methane, and the aminohydrocarbon is toluene diamine, aniline, or at least one amine (including methylamine, dimethylamine or trimethylamine), respectively (all claimed).    ADVANTAGE - The process: has favorable energy balance; utilizes minimal equipments, thus cost-effective; reduces mechanical stress on the membrane, due to the electrochemical removal of the hydrogen, thus increasing the stability of the membrane; and removes hydrogen more effectively when compared to conventional hydrogen-selective membranes. The obtained hydrogen is highly pure.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - Direct amination of hydrocarbons into amino hydrocarbons, comprises reacting feed stream containing at least one hydrocarbon and at least one aminating reagent to obtain a reaction mixture containing amino hydrocarbon and hydrogen in a reaction zone, and electrochemically separating at least one portion of the hydrogen, produced during the reaction, from the reaction mixture by a gas-tight membrane-electrode assembly comprising at least one selective proton-conducting membrane and at least one electrode catalyst on each side of the membrane, where at least one of the hydrogen is oxidized to protons in the anode catalyst on the retentate side of the membrane, and after penetrating the membrane in the cathode catalyst on the permeate side the protons are (a) reduced to hydrogen on the cathode catalyst by applying a voltage, or (b) are reacted with oxygen to form water, and the oxygen originates from an oxygen-containing stream, which is brought into contact with the permeate side of the membrane.