Written by J.A Dobado | Last Updated on September 15, 2025
What is Schmidt reaction?
The Schmidt reaction, also known as the Schmidt rearrangement, is a chemical reaction that involves the addition of hydrazoic acid to carboxylic acids, aldehydes, and ketones under acidic conditions.
The products of this reaction are amines, nitriles, and amides, respectively. During the Schmidt reaction, tertiary alcohols and substituted alkenes undergo a transformation that results in the formation of imines upon treatment with hydrazoic acid.
References
Schmidt, K.F. (1924), Über den Imin-Rest. [On the Imin Remnant.] Ber. Dtsch. Chem. Ges. A/B, 57: 704-706. https://doi.org/10.1002/cber.19240570423
Full Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Granada, with a long-standing research career in Computational Chemistry and molecular modeling and design.