Fluoride-Catalyzed Esterification of Amides

In recent years, it has been demonstrated that amide carbon-nitrogen bonds can be activated and selectively cleaved using transition metal catalysts. However, these methodologies have been restricted to specific amides; a one-to-one relationship exists between the catalytic system and the amides and also uses large amounts of transition-metal catalysts and ligands. Hence, we now report a general strategy for esterification of common amides using fluoride as a catalyst. This method shows high functional group tolerance, and notably it requires only a slight excess of the alcohol nucleophile, which is a rare case in transition-metal-free amide transformations. Moreover, this approach may provide a new understanding for further studies on esterification of amides and is expected to stimulate the development of alternative methods for direct functionalization of amides.