I'am trying a N-arylation with K2CO3 in DMSO. It seems to produce the desired product but one of my reactants seems to degrade. I have too many byproducts on my reaction mixture. Any idea to adress this problem?
For clean N-arylation, you can try Buchwald-Hartwig amination with aryl halide or triflate with aryl /diaryl or alkyl/dialkyl amines in presence of Pd-cat, suitable phosphine ligand and base. Plenty of good references are available in literature. Yields are excellent for most of the reactions.
It's not clear from your question what type of substrates you are using for N-arylation. Simple aryl halides are too unreactive for substitution with amines that too in presence of weaker bases like Pot. carbonate. If the aryl halide is activated by electron withdrawing groups (in ortho or para position) then the reaction becomes easier but here the base itself can also act as a nucleophile to react with the aryl halide as side reaction. Use of low temperature can minimize it.
Use of strong base may also lead to N-arylation via benzyne intermediate. But here formation of regio-isomeric byproducts and benzyne dimers are also possible.