Synthesis of(Z)-methyl-2-acetamidocinnamate

In the investigation of asymmetric catalytic hydrogenation reaction, (Z)-methyl-2-acetamidocinnamate is often used as a standard substrate to assess the chiral catalysts. However, its previous syntheses suffered from low yield, relying on column chromatography for isolation. Herein, (Z)-methyl-2-acetamidocinnamate was obtained with 68. 5% isolation yield via simple operations such as wash and extraction using dicyclohexylcarbodiimide(DCC)as dehydrant and 4-dimethylaminopyridine(DMAP)as catalyst in the last synthetic step.