Direct alkylative Passerini reaction of aldehydes, isocyanides, and free aliphatic alcohols catalyzed by indium(III) triflate.

In(OTf)(3) was found to be a useful Lewis acid catalyst for direct alkylative Passerini reaction of aldehydes, isocyanides, and free aliphatic alcohols. In the present reaction, aromatic and alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes performed as nice substrates to give the corresponding alpha-alkoxy amide products in good yield.