Sustainable Amidation Reactions – Recent Advances

Due to the widespread occurrence of amides in modern pharmaceuticals and biologically active compounds, amidation reaction is one of the most important reactions in organic chemistry. Traditional methods to form amide bonds involve the coupling of a carboxylic acid with an amine and require the pre-activation of the carboxylic acid moiety. Sustainable routes are replacing these existing methods since large amounts of waste are produced. Recently, novel reagents and methods for amide bond formation have emerged with the development of boron reagents, as well as the use of more sustainable metallic and organometallic catalysts. This review compiles the most recent efforts towards sustainable approaches that contribute to solving the problems associated with traditional methods. The new routes are based on promising reagents to performed more versatile and efficient amidation reactions.