Chiang Mai Journal of Science

An easy and rapid method to prepare amantadine hydrochloride (1), which was used for the treatment of certain influenza infections type A and Parkinson’s disease was developed.  In this work, we report a microwave method, which was effective in heating and saving solvents, for the synthesis of amantadine hydrochloride from adamantane by Ritter-type reaction via N-(1-adamantyl)acetamide in a two-step procedure with an improved overall yield 71%. The reaction conditions were investigated to increase the overall yield and to shorten the reaction time, reduce the use of toxic reagents, solvents, rendering it more effective and environment-friendly.