The status of the 12-atom molecule propionamide (C₂H₅CONH₂) is under dispute. In 2021, Li and co-workers reported the tentative detection of propionamide toward Sgr B2(N1E) on the basis of 7 pairs of rotational transitions reflecting A-E splitting. They remeasured the spectrum of propionamide over a wider frequency range than previous work. The detection used observations made with the IRAM 30m radio telescope as collected in the ReMoCA survey of Belloche and co-workers.

Two publications in 2022 called the detection of propionamide into question. As part of a search for both acrylamide and propionamide, Kolesniková and co-workers sought evidence in the ReMoCA survey for both compounds. They analyzed the data more thoroughly and did not find any evidence for propionamide. Subsequenly, Schuessler and co-workers searched for propionamide in a different range (centimeter wavelengths) and were also unable to confirm its presence in Sgr B2(N).