N-Formamides are important intermediates in the synthesis of many pharmacologically active compounds and are used as protecting groups for amines or as catalysts in different reactions. The current N-formylation experiment is designed as a part of an introductory organic chemistry course for undergraduate students. The experiment includes formylation of substituted aromatic amines using formic acid under solvent-free conditions. Students are introduced to laboratory safety precautions, reaction mechanism, and basic laboratory techniques such as a solvent-free reaction setup, reflux, filtration, melting point determination, yield calculation, and lab report write-up. Students synthesized four different formamides in 50–80% yield as a straightforward application of nucleophilic substitution reactions.
Research Department	
              
          Research Journal	
              Journal of Chemical Education
          Research Publisher	
              ACS Publications
          Research Rank	
              1
          Research Vol	
              Vol. 95, Article 4
          Research Website	
              https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00983
          Research Year	
              2020
          Research Member	
          
      Research Abstract