An efficient, green and scale-up synthesis of amides from esters and amines catalyzed by Ru-MACHO catalyst under mild conditions

•An efficient, green and scale-up synthesis of amides has been developed.•Amides are readily obtained from esters and amines.•Ru-MACHO is used as a readily available catalyst.•Amides are prepared in moderate to excellent yields and on multi-gram scale.

An efficient, green and scale-up synthesis of amides from esters and amines has been developed using Ru-MACHO as a readily available catalyst. A diverse range of amides were obtained in moderate to excellent yields (55–98%). Furthermore, when the scale of the amidation reaction was increased to 240.0 mmol, the desired amide still could be obtained in high yield (48.2 g of N-benzylbenzamide, 95%).