Simple synthesis of some 2-substituted melatonin derivatives
A simple strategy for the synthesis of some 2-substituted melatonin derivatives using p-anisidine as starting material is reported. The key step is a chemoselective reduction of a cyano group in the presence of an appropriate acid anhydride by hydrogenation over Adams' catalyst or with sodium borohydride in the presence of catalytic amounts of anhydrous nickel(II) chloride. The 2-substituted melatonin derivatives were obtained in six or seven steps from inexpensive p-anisidine in 9-13% overall yield. Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart New York.
Lozinskaya, Natalia A.,Sosonyuk, Sergey E.,Volkova, Maria S.,Seliverstov, Michael Yu.,Proskurnina, Marina V.,Bachurin, Sergey E.,Zefirov, Nikolay S.