Iodine-Promoted Transamidation of N,N-Dimethylacetamide (DMA) with Amines

A novel and convenient transamidation of N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMA) with amines for the synthesis of acetamides with moderate to excellent yields is reported. Low-cost I-2 is used as efficient promoter for this transformation. Furthermore, the reaction has simple conditions, good functional group tolerance, substrates without prefunctionalization, and practicality, which can be widely used in the synthesis of acetamide drugs and biologically active molecules.