Mechanochemical Synthesis of Primary Amides.

Ball milling of aromatic, heteroaromatic, vinylic, and aliphatic esters with ethanol and calcium nitride afforded the corresponding primary amides in a transformation that was compatible with a variety of functional groups and maintained the integrity of a stereocenter α to carbonyl. This methodology was applied to α-amino esters and N-BOC dipeptide esters and also to the synthesis of rufinamide, an antiepileptic drug.

1,3-dipolar cycloadditions from tricyclic hemiaminals. Synthesis of the quinocarcin core through catalyst-free generation of azomethine ylides.

The generation of azomethine ylides from the readily accessible hemiaminals 3 and 8 or from iminium salt 10 was studied. Compounds 8 gave anti- and syn-cycloadducts containing the quinocarcin core through a catalyst-free dehydration process.