Mechanistic Analysis and Development of Direct and Catalysed Coupling of Carboxylic Acids with Amines. Disentangling the Enigma

一些氨基酸组合通过直接脱水偶联产生酰胺的能力表明，在该反应中还发生了其他尚未确定的相互作用。这一过程的机制还没有被很好地理解，有许多未经证实的假设。同样，以这种方式反应的氨基酸对的化学特异性对反应动力学的影响也不清楚。本研究项目将应用完整的物理有机工具箱来研究这些神秘的过程，以提供对潜在机制的一些见解。由此获得的信息将应用于制定新的最佳条件、催化剂和工艺，以高效、“清洁”地从胺和酸中生成酰胺。

The ability of some amine-acid combinations to generate amides from direct dehydrative coupling suggests there are other interactions occurring in this reaction which are unidentified. The mechanism of this process is not well understood with multiple unproven hypotheses. Similarly the influence of chemical specificity of the amine-acid pairs that react in this way altering the reaction kinetics are also unclear. This research project will apply the full physical organic toolbox to investigate these enigmatic processes to provide some insight into the underlying mechanism. The resulting information learned will be applied to formulate new optimum conditions catalysts and processes for efficient and 'clean' amide generation from amines and acids.