α-Ketoamides
and their derivatives are key constituents of
natural products, biologically relevant molecules, drug and drug candidates,
and functional materials. Further, they are versatile and valuable
intermediates and synthons in a number of functional group transformations
and total syntheses. In recent years tremendous growth has been realized
in the development of synthetic methods for α-ketoamide preparation
and their applications in synthetic and medicinal chemistry. Among
the various catalytic methods of α-ketoamide formation, two
approaches, namely double aminocarbonylation and oxidative amidation,
have received much more attention and have been greatly studied because
of the ready availability of the starting materials, use of carbon
monoxide (CO) as a direct source of carbonyl functionalities, and
use of molecular oxygen (O2) or air as a green terminal
oxidant and/or reactants. Catalyzed α-ketoamide formation can
be roughly classified into metal- and nonmetal-catalyzed processes.
In the context of metal catalysis, most reactions involving metals
are performed using palladium (Pd) and copper (Cu); however, other
metals such as gold (Au), silver (Ag), and iron (Fe) based catalysts
have also been investigated to some extent. On the other hand, nonmetal-catalyzed
α-ketoamide syntheses are mainly restricted to iodine-based
catalysts in the presence or absence of other promoters. Our objective
in this review is to highlight the important research endeavors related
to catalytic α-ketoamide synthesis, which include the trends
in the catalytic synthesis of α-ketoamides, new breakthroughs,
and recent advances up to March 2016.