N-Heterocyclic carbene-catalysed amidation of vinyl esters with aromatic amines

A novel amide bond formation reaction was developed via N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-catalysed direct amidation of vinyl esters. In the presence of 5.0 mol % NHC catalyst, a variety of aromatic amines undergo acylation reaction with different vinyl esters to produce amides in 51% to quantitative yields.