Metal-Free Reduction of Tertiary Amides

Significance

The authors report a chemoselective metal-free reduction of tertiary amides using Hantzsch ester 1 as the hydride source. Triflic anhydride was used as stoichiometric activating agent for this reaction. The authors have identified that functionalities such as esters, ketones, and epoxides are tolerated in their reaction and good to high yields (46-91%) are obtained for different tertiary amides.