The present invention pertains to process for the amidation of a substituted 1-bromo-adamantane comprising a step (0) of reacting a substituted adamantane with an excess of bromine to obtain a 1-bromo-adamantane and a step (i) of reacting said substituted 1-bromo-adamantane with an amide, wherein the substituted 1-bromo-adamantane is used in the form of a mixture comprising bromine as obtained in step (0), wherein in step (0) a bromine: substituted adamantane molar ratio of from [2.5:1] to less than [5:1] is employed.