Alkylation of aromatic amines by tert-enamides: Direct access to protected aminals

Reaction of aromatic amines with tertiary enamides was performed in n-hexane in the presence of acetic acid as an inexpensive and green catalyst at room temperature. This protocol provides the protected aminals through Markovnikov addition reaction with high to excellent yields and regiospecificity. In addition, this procedure was expanded for the synthesis of aminals from commercially available sulfa drugs such as sulfathiazole and sulfabenzamide.