Beckmann rearrangement of a variety of ketoximes has been carried out in imidazolium-based ionic liquids in the presence of catalytic amount of stannous chloride. This mild and ‘green’ procedure is highly regioselective affording the corresponding N-substituted amides in good to quantitative yields.
Keywords: Beckmann rearrangement, oximes, amides, ionic liquid, stannous chloride, lactams, polyamides, nylon-6, stoichiometric, microwave-irradiation