Zinc Chloride-Catalyzed Synthesis of Carbamates: An Application for the Synthesis of the Anti-Alzheimer's Drug Rivastigmine.

Herein, we report a synthetic protocol for the synthesis of carbamates by employing zinc chloride as a catalyst from carbamoyl chlorides and aromatic/aliphatic alcohols. The developed protocol successfully utilizes the gram-scale synthesis of the FDA-approved rivastigmine drug and its derivative. The utility of zinc chloride over other catalysts such as zinc dust and zinc acetate exhibits a 49-87% yield of carbamates.