[ironnica]

Hello one and all. here's one thing that is wrecking my head. for every experiment we do in organic chemistry we have to draw out the mechanism, in quite a bit of detail. This is the first week that I have been unable to find anything that can give me even a slight insight into the mechanism. Here it is anyway:

Title: Synthesis of 2-hydroxyphenylphthalamide, protection of a primary amine.

added phthalic anhydride and 2-aminophenol (reactants) to reaction flask with glacial acetic acid. refluxed for 1hr at 125oC. cool and filter.

seemed like a simple experiment, got a very good yield, but....

please help

[stewie griffin]

What do you know about the reactivity of anhydrides? Are the electrophilic or nucleophilic?
What about nitrogens with their lones pairs. Are they going to be nucleophiles or electrophiles?