Preparation of aromatic amides from carbon monoxide, an amine and an aromatic chloride

A process for preparing an aromatic amide, said process comprising reacting:

• (A) carbon monoxide;
• (B) a primary or secondary amine having the structure:
• ##STR13## wherein x is 1, 2 or 3;
• R is selected from the group consisting of an alkyl group having 2 to 23 carbon atoms and an aryl group having 6 to 14 carbon atoms;
• and R.sup.1 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, an alkyl group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms and an aryl group having 5 to 14 carbon atoms;
• and
• (C) an aromatic chloride having the following structure:
• ##STR14## wherein y is 1, 2, or 3;
• z is 1 or 2;
• R.sup.2 is selected from the group consisting of an alkyl group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms and an aryl group having 5 to 10 carbon atoms;
• and Ar is an aromatic nucleus, provided that either R.sup.2 or Ar contains fat least one electron withdrawing group in addition to the chlorine, said electron withdrawing group having a Hammett sigma constant with a value greater than 0.10 and excluding halogen,
• wherein said process is conducted at less than 30 psig carbon monoxide in the presence of an iodide salt, a transition metal catalyst, and a base, provided that the iodide salt is present in an amount of 0.01 to 5 equivalents based on the equivalents of aromatic chloride, the transition metal catalyst is present in an amount of 0.005 to 0.2 equivalents based on the equivalents of aromatic chloride, and the base is present in an amount of 0.1 to 100 equivalents based on the equivalents of aromatic chloride.