Facile, efficient and green phthalimide synthesis in supercritical carbon dioxide

The reactions between phthalic anhydrides and primary amines in supercritical CO₂ (80–110 bar) to afford the corresponding phthalimides proceed at temperatures of 120–130 °C (aliphatic amines) or 260–275 °C (aromatic amines). The developed procedure fully complies with the principles of green chemistry and allows one to obtain target phthalimides in 65–85% isolated yields, without additional purification and extraction.