Practical povidone iodine catalyzed transamidation from primary amides and amines

[Display omitted] •The transamidation approaching N-substituted amides from various primary amides and amines was achieved with high yields.•The transamidation was catalyzed by non-harmful PVP-I instead of molecule I2.•Several drugs were successfully acquired with a better performance than those previous reported references. Non-harmful Povidone iodine (PVP-I) was applied in the transamidation to gain N-substituted amides from various primary amides and amines. Diverse aromatic, heterocyclic and aliphatic primary amides/amines were applied in our developed method and more than 45 N-substituted amides were obtained with excellent yields in most cases. Several drugs such as Melatonin and Efaproxiral were successfully acquired with a better performance than those previous reported results.