Study of the microwave-assisted hydrolysis of nitriles and esters and the implementation of this system in rapid microwave-assisted Pd-catalyzed amination

Microwave-assisted hydrolysis of benzonitriles and methyl benzoates has been studied using a toluene/concd aq KOH two phase system in the presence and absence of phase transfer catalyst. Conditions to allow and avoid smooth hydrolysis could be identified. Based on the latter, the first microwave protocol which allows the rapid Pd-catalyzed amination of aliphatic amines with chlorobenzenes containing sensitive functional groups has been developed. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.