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Updated: Jul 30, 2025

Synthesis of Esters Via a Greener Steglich Esterification in Acetonitrile
Published on: October 30, 2018
A sustainable metal and base-free direct amidation of esters using water as a green solvent
Nanthini Rajendran1, Kiruthigadevi Kamaraj1, Saranya Janakiraman1
1Department of Chemistry, School of Advanced Sciences, Vellore of Institute of Technology Vellore-632014 TamilNadu India charlesbheeter@vit.ac.in.
Abstract:
Herein, we report a simple and efficient synthetic approach for direct amidation of esters via C(acyl)-O bond cleavage without any additional reagents or catalysts, using only water as a green solvent. Subsequently, the reaction byproduct is recovered and utilized for the next phase of ester synthesis. This method emphasized metal-free, additive-free, and base-free characteristics making it a new, sustainable, and eco-friendly way to realize direct amide bond formation. In addition, the synthesis of the drug molecule diethyltoluamide and the Gram-scale synthesis of a representative amide are demonstrated.
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