Carbon monoxide process for the production of alpha amino acids

摘要

A process is disclosed for the synthesis of alpha-amino acid by first contacting the condensation product of an aldehyde or ketone and an amine or amide with a protic or Lewis acid solvent and carbon monoxide to form an intermediate reaction product, and then hydrolyzing the intermediate to yield a product comprising the alpha-amino acid. The reaction rate and product yield can be increased by the addition of a Group 1B metal oxide catalyst in the first step.