One idea is to use dimethylformamide as the amide source. One could then react this with PMPA (para-methoxy-phenyl-acetone; formed by reacting oxone with anethole) to form the intermediate dimethylamide which could then possibly be hydrolyzed in situ to the amine by reacting the amide with a high-boiling alcohol and base (sodium hydroxide?)
One way to do this would be to place in an unmodified microwave oven (domestic) a beaker of water to act as a heat sink. DIRECTLY INTO this, one would place the reaction vessel. This way, the microwave power could be set on high. The water would absorb all of the excess microwave energy while at the same time maintain the reaction temperature at 100 C. If much of the water evaporates, simply add more. Although Loopy's original paper indicates 180 C or so as the necessary temperature, I have no doubt that increasing the reaction from 20 minutes to 1 to 2 hours might bypass this complication.
This reaction has great potential.