Formation of acrylanilides, acrylamides, and amides directly from carboxylic acids using thionyl chloride in dimethylacetamide in the absence of bases

A general one-pot procedure is described that rapidly converts acrylic acid to anilides upon sequential treatment of the acid in dimethylacetamide ( DMAC) with thionyl chloride and stoichiometric amounts of anilines in 88-98% yields, with DMAC offering rate and stability advantages over the use of DMF. The use of DMAC was extended to other organic acids in forming anilides. Benzylamine amides can also be formed using stoichiometric amounts of benzylamine and brought to completion by warming in the absence of additional base. In addition, it was shown that tert-butylamides can be easily formed with the addition of excess tert-butylamine at 20 degrees C.