Facile and highly selective conversion of nitriles to amides via indirect acid-catalyzed hydration using TFA or AcOH-H2SO4.

Both aliphatic and aromatic nitriles are conveniently and selectively converted in a single step, via an indirect acid-catalyzed hydration, into the corresponding amides in 1-8 h using a TFA-H2SO4 mixture as a reagent system. Although the same reagent did not work for the sterically hindered nitriles such as mesitonitrile, the transformation could be accomplished by changing TFA to AcOH at higher temperatures (>90 degrees C).