An azobenzene-containing metal-organic framework as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for direct amidation of benzoic acids: synthesis of bioactive compounds

An azobenzene-containing zirconium metal-organic framework was demonstrated to be an effective heterogeneous catalyst for the direct amidation of benzoic acids in tetrahydrofuran at 70 degrees C. This finding was applied to the synthesis of several important, representative bioactive compounds.