Reaction of Ortho Esters with Secondary Amines

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/jo01308a007

The scope of the reaction of ortho esters with secondary amines has been explored.With p-toluenesulfonic acid as catalyst, N-alkylanilines and orthoformates gave high yields of N-alkylformanilides and N,N-dialkylanilines in contrast to previous work with other acid catalysts where ortho amides were produced in low yield.Aliphatic cyclic amines (e.g., morpholine, piperidine) and orthoformates gave the corresponding ortho amides.This constitutes a new convenient synthesis of these useful reagents.