A Selective Single Step Amidation of Polyfluoroarenes

•Novel method allows for selective polyfluoroarylation of amides in a single step.•Good yields and mild reaction conditions. This chemistry establishes a method for the synthesis of per- and poly-fluoroaryl acid amides, utilizing nucleophilic aromatic substitution. Traditionally, such amides are constructed in a two-step process, namely, ammonolysis and then N-acylation. Herein, good yields of N-polyfluoroaryl acid amides were achieved in a single step under mild reaction conditions. Key to achieving optimal yields is the use of two equivalents of the nucleophile. In addition, the mechanism of the reaction is discussed which has implications for other related nucleophilic substitutions. [Display omitted]