Atom economical synthesis of N-alkylbenzamides via the iron(III) sulfate catalyzed rearrangement of 2-alkyl-3-aryloxaziridines in water and in the presence of a surfactant

A green and mild synthetic route to N-alkylbenzamides involves eco-friendly one pot synthesis of 2-alkyl-3-aryloxaziridines from N-alkylamines and benzaldehydes followed by iron(III) sulfate catalyzed rearrangement to the corresponding amides in water as the solvent and in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate as the surfactant. This green approach affords N-alkylbenzamides in high overall yields under simple and minimum manipulation.