The organic polymer materials research group from the State Key Laboratory for Oxo Synthesis and Selective Oxidation of the Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics of the CAS has synthesized N-acyl-α-phenylglycine using environmental-friendly ionic liquid as the reaction medium. They have received a Chinese invention patent for the synthesis technique. The patent is No. ZL:200610104993.2 received on April 27.

The invention discloses a method for synthesizing N-acyl-α-phenylglycine through amidecarbonylation reaction. The method adopts an ionic liquid as reaction solvent, palladium acetate or Pd (PPh3)2 (OAc)2 as catalyst, sulfuric acid and lithium bromide are adopted as cocatalyst, benzaldehyde and acetamide are used as substrates, and N-acyl-α-phenylglycine is synthesized through the amide carbonylation reaction. The invention adopts non-toxic and green ionic liquid as reaction medium, and can obtain higher yield and greatly simplifies the processing of products.

Amidocarbonylation-a typical atom-economic multicomponent reaction, uses amide, aldehyde and CO as starting materials and synthesizes racemic N-acyl-α-phenylglycine through one step. N-acyl-α-phenylglycine has wide applications and can be used as chelating agents, detergents, lubricants and intermediates of pesticides and pharmaceuticals. Currently, there are few patents disclosed in China in this field. As for the patents disclosed abroad, in most cases, conventional toxic organic solvents are used, which is harmful to the environment. However, the usage of N-Methylpyrrolidone (NMP) with high boiling point complicates the separation of the products.