Cyclic α-amino acids via enantioselective metal-catalyzed cascade reactions of dienamides in supercritical carbon dioxide

Highly enantioselective conversion of dienamides into cyclic alpha- amino acids can be achieved by a single- pot, tandem hydrogenation - hydroformylation - cyclization - elimination sequence using a single catalyst and supercritical carbon dioxide ( scCO(2)) as the reaction solvent at total pressures significantly lower than those previously reported for related hydrogenation and hydroformylation reactions.