Making Carbonyls of Amides Nucleophilic and Hydroxyls of Alcohols Electrophilic Mediated by SO2F2 for Synthesis of Esters from Amides.

We discovered that with the promotion of sulfuryl fluoride, the carbonyl groups of amides performed as nucleophiles while the hydroxyl groups of alcohols were activated to functionalize as electrophiles. This study displayed that the amide C-N bonds could be easily cleaved with delicate nucleophiles to form the ester C-O bonds at room temperature without using transition metals. The broad substrate scope and excellent functional group compatibility were proved with 44 examples in up to 99% yields.