# Zinc-Mediated Four-Component Carbonylation toward Direct Synthesis of α‑Amino Ketones

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a new zinc-mediated method to efficiently synthesize α-amino ketones, which are important in medicinal chemistry.

## Contribution

A novel zinc-mediated carbonylation method for synthesizing α-amino ketones using alkyl iodides, aldehydes, and amines.

## Key findings

- The zinc-mediated reaction efficiently synthesizes α-amino ketones under mild conditions.
- The method uses readily available and functional group compatible reagents like alkyl iodides.
- The approach avoids harsh conditions and toxic reagents used in traditional methods.

## Abstract

α-Amino ketone plays an important role in medicinal
chemistry
due to its excellent multiple reaction sites, which serve as a chemical
hub for constructing complex molecules. Moreover, its skeleton is
also found in many bioactive molecules. The traditional methods for
synthesizing α-amino ketones are usually limited by harsh reaction
conditions and the use of presynthesized and toxic reagents. As a
readily available synthetic reagent, organic iodides play an important
role in organic synthesis due to their high reactivity and high functional
group compatibility. Herein, we report a zinc-mediated carbonylation
reaction involving alkyl iodides, aldehydes, and amines, which efficiently
synthesized a series of α-amino ketone compounds.