Palladium-catalyzed approach to primary amides using nongaseous precursors.

A simple protocol is reported for the preparation of primary aryl amides under Pd-catalyzed carbonylation chemistry applying a two-chamber system with crystalline and nontransition metal based sources of carbon monoxide and ammonia. The method is suitable for the synthesis of a number of primary amides with good functional group tolerance. Incorporation of (13)CO into the primary amide group was also found to be effective making this approach useful for accessing carbon isotope labeled derivatives.