2,2,2-trifluoroethyl formate: a versatile and selective reagent for the formylation of alcohols, amines, and...

Various carboxylic acid derivatives (such as acid chlorides, esters, and anhydrides) can be used for the acylation of amines to yield amides. The reaction requires two equivalents of amines. The first amine molecule functions as a nucleophile and attacks the carbonyl carbon to produce a tetrahedral intermediate. This is followed by the loss of the leaving group and restoration of the C=O bond.
Next, the second equivalent of amine serves as a Brønsted base and deprotonates the quaternary amide...

Primary amines react with carbonyl compounds—aldehydes and ketones—to generate imines. Imines consist of a C=N double bond and are named Schiff bases after its discoverer—the German chemist Hugo Schiff. On the other hand, secondary amines react with carbonyl compounds to give enamines. In enamines, the presence of a C=C double bond adjacent to the nitrogen atom leads to the delocalization of the lone pair.

Alkenes can be obtained from amines via an E2 elimination. The amine is first converted into a good leaving group, such as a quaternary ammonium salt. This is accomplished by treating the amine with an excess of alkyl halide, which results in a halide salt. Next, the halide salt is transformed into a hydroxide salt that functions as a base to enable elimination.
Under thermal conditions, the hydroxide can abstract a proton from the β carbon; this generates an alkene with the simultaneous...

In the presence of an aqueous base and a halogen, primary amides can lose the carbonyl (as carbon dioxide) and undergo rearrangement to form primary amines. This reaction, called the Hofmann rearrangement, can produce primary amines (aryl and alkyl) in high yields without contamination by secondary and tertiary amines.

The Hofmann and Curtius rearrangement reactions can be applied to synthesize primary amines from carboxylic acid derivatives such as amides and acyl azides. In the Hofmann rearrangement, a primary amide undergoes deprotonation in the presence of a base, followed by halogenation to generate an N-haloamide. A second proton abstraction produces a stabilized anionic species, which rearranges to an isocyanate intermediate via an alkyl group migration from the carbonyl carbon to the neighboring...

Enamine formation involves the addition of carbonyl compounds to a secondary amine through a series of reactions. The mechanism begins with the generation of carbinolamine, a nucleophilic attack followed by several proton transfer reactions. The hydroxyl group of the carbinolamine is converted into water to make a better leaving group that can push the reaction forward by eliminating a water molecule. In enamine formation, the last step involves the abstraction of a proton from the α carbon to...