Synthesis of Agomelatine by One-pot Catalytic Hydrogenation and Acetylation with NiO

Nano-NiO and bulk NiO were prepared from Ni(AC)_2·4 H_2O by coordination precipitation using aqueous ammonia and by a solid state reaction, respectively. The nickel oxide particles were characterized by X-ray Diffraction(XRD) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM). The results indicate that nano-sized NiO has a crystal phase with a standard face-centered cubic lattice structure, with a mean particle diameter of about 10 nm. The evaluation of the activity of nickel oxide nanoparticles in the catalytic hydrogenation of 7-methoxy-1-naphthylacetonitrile was carried out. The results demonstrate the efficient synthesis of the title compound by a one-pot catalytic hydrogenation and acetylation with NiO. The NiO nanoparticles displayed superior catalytic activity in the synthesis of agomelatine in the one-pot reaction.The total yield of agomelatine is over 81.8% with a purity of 99.2%, as determined by HPLC. The structure of agomelatine was confirmed by IR, MS, and 1 H NMR analysis.