Ketones to amides via a formal Beckmann rearrangement in ‘one pot’: a solvent-free reaction promoted by anhydrous oxalic acid. Possible analogy with the Schmidt reaction

A variety of ketones can be directly converted into the secondary amides expected from a Beckmann rearrangement of the corresponding oximes in high yield, by heating them with hydroxylamine hydrochloride and anhydrous oxalic acid at ∼100°C for 4–12 h. (Aromatic aldehydes afforded mixtures of nitrile and amide.) The transformation is apparently (kinetically) driven by the coupled decomposition of oxalic acid (to CO+CO2) via the fragmentation of an intermediate oxime mono-oxalate. However, an alternative pathway, mechanistically analogous to the Schmidt reaction, is not only equally likely but may well be general for the Beckmann rearrangement.