Copper (II) bromide catalysed one pot bromination and amination for the green, cost-effective synthesis of clopidogrel

•A green process for α-amination of esters is reported.•CuBr2 catalyst in presence of NMO facilitate amination carbonyl compounds.•The method was applied for affordable synthesis of cardiovascular drug clopidogrel.•The reaction yield is excellent and is capable of scale up. Copper (II) bromide catalyzed one pot α-bromination and followed by amination of a benzylic ester is reported. The α-bromination of ester by copper (II) bromide generates copper (I) bromide and HBr. The copper (I) bromide is oxidized to copper (II) bromide by N-Methylmorpholine-N-Oxide (NMO) in presence of HBr. The amines undergo nucleophilic substitution reaction with α-brominated ester compound. This methodology was applied for the synthesis of the familiar antiplatelet drug clopidogrel. This green process is an alternate to classical methods for the synthesis of clopidogrel, which requires, generates stochiometric amount of brominating agents and HBr, respectively. [Display omitted]