Direct C-N Coupling of Aromatic Aldehydes with Amines by H₂O₂ for Synthesis of Amides at Room Temperature

In this paper, we report a new mild and environmentally friendly approach for the direct C-N coupling of aromatic aldehydes with amines at room temperature to synthesize amides in which H₂O₂ serves as the oxidizing agent without the need for a catalyst. Investigation into substrate scope showed that the strategy exhibits good functional group tolerance. Under the optimal reaction conditions, the direct C-N coupling of aromatic aldehydes with secondary amines affords a series of amide products with moderate to high yields of 67%-95%, along with the sole byproduct of water. Additionally, a maximum isolated yield of 90% is achieved in the gram-scale reaction. Finally, a plausible reaction mechanism is proposed via a series of parallel experiments.