Copper-catalyzed oxidative condensation of α-oxocarboxylic acids with formamides: synthesis of α-ketoamides

A copper-catalyzed coupling of alpha-oxocarboxylic acids with formamides is reported. This simple method provides a practical approach toward the synthesis of alpha-ketoamides with a variety of functional groups. Mechanistic studies have shown that the reaction proceeded via a radical process and C-13-labeled experiments proved that the amide carbon in the products comes from the corresponding carboxylic acid, not from the DMF.