Abstract
Mechanistic investigation on the previously reported N-methylation of formanilides effected by the constant-boiling liquid of the formates composed of formic acid and trialkylamine has been made by introducing isotopic tracer method into the representative reaction of p-phenylenediamine derivatives. In accord with the isotopic tracer results a mechanism of this formate reaction has been proposed. It has been revealed that the formate reagents affect the conversion of N-formyul, which suffers interchange in the formate medium, into N-methyl acting as reducing agent.
