How can we do amide coupling reaction in water?
A search on the phrase &quot;Amide Formation in Water&quot; produces a good selection of hits.
Recent papers such as this and this offer conditions.
From the abstract of 1

A general and environmentally responsible method for the formation of amide/peptide bonds in an aqueous micellar medium is described. Use of uronium salt (1-cyano-2-ethoxy-2-oxoethylidenaminooxy)dimethylaminomorpholinocarbenium hexafluorophosphate (COMU) as a coupling reagent, 2,6-lutidine, and TPGS-750-M represents mild conditions associated with these valuable types of couplings