The present study reports the preparation and characterisation of Ce(III) immobilised on an aminated epichlorohydrin-activated agarose matrix (CAEA) as a “green” catalyst. The catalyst was synthesised by the reaction of the epichlorohydrin-activated agarose matrix with ammonia solution, which was then treated with Ce(NO3)3 · 6H2O. The catalyst (CAEA) was characterised by FT-IR, far IR, CHN, XRD, TGA, and ICP techniques. CAEA is shown to be an effective and reusable heterogeneous catalyst for the transamidation of carboxamides with amines under solventfree conditions. The catalyst was successfully applied to the synthesis of a wide range of aromatic and aliphatic amides. High efficiency, mild reaction conditions, easy work-up, simple separation and also reusability are important advantages of this catalyst.

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