Abstract: The amidation and esterification of different cyclic anhydrides with aniline and phenol gave different major products, and the routes were optimized. When a conjugated system was contained in the cyclic anhydride, it gave N-phenylimide as the major product. The structures of the target molecules and the key intermediates were confirmed by ¹H NMR， ¹³C NMR and IR spectra in our experiments.

Key words: amidation, esterification, anhydride, synthesis