Direct amidation of acid fluorides using germanium amides.

Amide functional groups are an essential linkage that are found in peptides, proteins, and pharmaceuticals and new methods are constantly being sought for their formation. Here, a new method for their preparation is presented where germanium amides Ph3GeNR2 convert acid fluorides directly to amides. These germanium amides serve to abstract the fluorine atom of the acid fluoride and transfer their amide group -NR2 to the carbonyl carbon, and so function as amidation reagents.