A general one-pot procedure is described that rapidly convertsacrylic acid to anilides upon sequential treatment of the acidin dimethylacetamide (DMAC) with thionyl chloride andstoichiometric amounts of anilines in 88-98% yields, withDMAC offering rate and stability advantages over the use ofDMF. The use of DMAC was extended to other organic acidsin forming anilides. Benzylamine amides can also be formedusing stoichiometric amounts of benzylamine and brought tocompletion by warming in the absence of additional base. Inaddition, it was shown that
tert-butylamides can be easilyformed with the addition of excess
tert-butylamine at 20
C.