Pyridine hydrochloride-promoted C-C bond cleavage approach: a metal-free and peroxide-free facile method for the synthesis of amide derivatives

[Display omitted] This article reports an efficient method for the synthesis of amide derivatives by the direct reactions of aromatic amines with 1,3-diketones promoted by pyridine hydrochloride under metal-free and solvent-free conditions. This transformation was accomplished by cleavage of C-C bond in the presence of pyridine hydrochloride as additive, which excludes the use of transition-metals and harsh reaction conditions. This method has a broad substrate scope and good tolerance for sensitive functional groups. A multi-gram scale reaction is also performed to ensure the scalability of the reaction.