Fenghua Mao, Can Jin, Jie Wang, Hui Yang, Xinhuan Yan, Xiaoqing Li and Xiangsheng Xu
Org. Biomol. Chem., 2023,21, 3825-3828
DOI:
10.1039/D3OB00452J,
Paper
Pivalic anhydride is shown to be an effective reagent for direct amidation of carboxylic acids with N-alkyl anilines. The only by-product of this reaction is nontoxic pivalic acid, which can be easily removed by aqueous workup. The reactions are conducted under mild conditions and found to be compatible with a range of carboxylic acids, including aromatic, heterocyclic, acrylic, and aliphatic carboxylic acids and amino acids generating the desired amides in short reaction times.