Selective hydroformylation of N-allylacetamide in an inverted aqueous two-phase catalytic system, enabling a short synthesis of melatoninCatalytic conversions in water, part 18. (Part 17: G. J. ten Brink, I. W. C. E. Arends and R. A. Sheldon, Science, 2000, 287, 1636.)Experimental details are available as electronic supplementary information (ESI). See http://www.rsc.org/suppdata/cc/b0/b003715j/

Abstract

Water increases the selectivity in the Rh–phosphine catalysed hydroformylation of N-allylacetamide; an aqueous–organic biphasic system, containing a hydrophobic Rh-catalyst, provided facile catalyst/product separation, after which the aqueous product phase could be used in a one-pot synthesis of N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine (melatonin).