Dehydrogenative amide synthesis from alcohol and amine catalyzed by hydrotalcite-supported gold nanoparticles

Hydrotalcite-supported nano-gold (Au/HT) was found to be a highly efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the dehydrogenative synthesis of amide from alcohol and amine. Amines and alcohols with different structures could be converted into the amides under mild reaction conditions with up to 98% isolated yields. Mechanism exploration suggested that ester might be the reaction intermediate. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.