A convenient method for the preparation of hydroxamic acids

A one-step conversion of carboxylic acid to hydroxamic acid, under neutral pH conditions is described. This simple, selective and efficient method was applied to a wide range of aliphatic/aromatic carboxylic acid derivatives that contain hydroxyl, halo, ester and other base sensitive groups as subst ituents. The method utilizes cheaply available reagents and hence it is a p ractical and cost effective strategy, compared to the other methods availab le in the literature. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.