Asymmetric hydrogenation of acetamido cinnamate ester in water.

Abstract

This research aimed to investigate the DuPHOS-Rh catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of acetamido cinnamate ester using water as the sole reaction solvent. The attempted synthesis of acetamido cinnamate ester was carried out using a 2-step literature procedure starting with N-acetylglycine. Six different substituted aldehydes were employed as the starting materials, all of which gave low conversion and impure acetamido cinnamate ester products. Hence, the hydrogenation reactions were not completed and further investigation is required to determine if this process is a viable method to produce protected amino acids.