Direct Amidation of Esters via Ball Milling

The direct mechanochemical amidation of esters – enabled by ball-milling – is herein described. The operationally simple procedure requires inputs of ester, amine, and sub-stoichiometric KOtBu and is applicable to a preparation of a large and diverse library of 78 amide structures with modest to excellent efficiency. Heteroaromatic and heterocyclic components are specifically shown to be amenable to this mechanochemical protocol. This direct synthesis platform has been applied to the synthesis of API’s, agrochemicals, and its ability to deliver gram-scale synthesis of active pharmaceuticals and building blocks is demonstrated, all in the absence of a reaction solvent.