Mechanochemical Amidation Mediated by 1,1’‐Oxalyldiimidazole for the Synthesis of Agrochemicals

The synthesis of amide moieties, essential components in both pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals, traditionally involves environmentally hazardous and polluting processes. This study presents a novel mechanochemical method to form amide bond using 1,1’‐oxalyl diimidazole (ODI) as activating agent, and evaluates its applicability in synthesizing agrochemicals such as Mepronil, Flutolanil, and Fluxapyroxad at gram‐scale. The mechanochemical kinetics underlying the synthesis of the three mentioned compounds was also investigated. The new method was compared with the similar 1,1’‐carbonyl diimidazole (CDI)‐mediated mechanochemical amidation previously reported. Results demonstrate that ODI‐mediated synthesis outperforms in the case of deactivated acids. Energetic considerations and technical process parameters are also discussed to provide quantitative technology assessment. A comprehensive analysis by green chemistry metrics with CHEM21 and DOZN TM 3.0 toolkits, underscores the potential benefits of the mechanochemical approach, compared with the solvent‐based protocols for the preparation of marketed agrochemicals.