Amidation reactions from the direct coupling of metal carboxylate salts with amines

A general method for the synthesis of amides involving the direct coupling of alkali metal carboxylate salts with amines is described. Amidation of a wide variety of carboxylate salts with either free amines or their ammonium hydrochloride salts can be achieved using HBTU as a coupling agent in combination with Hünig's base. The reaction is highly efficient and is generally complete in as little as 1-2 h, giving the products in good to excellent yields. The protocol is valuable for the coupling of carboxylates for which the corresponding carboxylic acids or acyl chlorides are unstable, less conveniently manipulated/isolated, or are not commercially available. For example, the coupling of amines and α-amino acids with lithium 5-bromo-1H-pyrrole-2-carboxylate, whose corresponding acid that is prone to decarboxylation, allowed for the synthesis of 5-bromo-1H-pyrrole-2-carboxamides, which are analogues of the pyrrole-2-aminoimidazole marine alkaloids. The protocol can be combined with other reactions in a sequenced fashion, as exemplified by the synthesis of acetylenic amides, in a one-pot procedure, via the coupling of a lithium carboxylate salt formed initially by the addition of carbon dioxide to a lithiated terminal alkyne.