Heterogeneous Catalytic Oxidation of Amides to Imides by Manganese Oxides.

Herein, we report a one-step peroxide mediated heterogeneous catalytic oxidation of amides to imides utilizing a series of manganese oxides. Among them, Cs/MnO was found to be the most active catalyst for the selective partial oxidation of N-benzylbenzamide to diphenyl imide. We have been able to apply an optimized oxidation method to other aromatic substrates.