α‐Amino Acid‐Isosteric α‐Amino Tetrazoles

The synthesis of all 20 common natural proteinogenic and 4 otherα‐amino acid‐isosteric α‐amino tetrazoles has been accomplished, whereby the carboxyl group is replaced by the isosteric 5‐tetrazolyl group. The short process involves the use of the key Ugi tetrazole reaction followed by deprotection chemistries. The tetrazole group is bioisosteric to the carboxylic acid and is widely used in medicinal chemistry and drug design. Surprisingly, several of the common α‐amino acid‐isosteric α‐amino tetrazoles are unknown up to now. Therefore a rapid synthetic access to this compound class and non‐natural derivatives is of high interest to advance the field.     

One‐Pot Synthesis of N‐Substituted β‐Amino Alcohols from Aldehydes and Isocyanides

A practical two‐stage one‐pot synthesis of N‐substituted β‐amino alcohols using aldehydes and isocyanides as starting materials has been developed. This method features mild reaction conditions, broad scope, and general tolerance of functional groups. Based on a less common central carbon–carbon bond disconnection, this protocol complements traditional approaches that involve amines and various carbon electrophiles (epoxides, α‐halo ketones, β‐halohydrins). Medicinally relevant products can be prepared in a concise and efficient way from simple building blocks, as demonstrated in the synthesis of the antiasthma drug salbutamol. Upgrading the synthesis to an enantioselective variant is also feasible.     

Pseudoephedrine‐Directed Asymmetric α‐Arylation of α‐Amino Acid Derivatives

Available α‐amino acids undergo arylation at their α position in an enantioselective manner on treatment with base of N′‐aryl urea derivatives ligated to pseudoephedrine as a chiral auxiliary. In situ silylation and enolization induces diastereoselective migration of the N′‐aryl group to the α position of the amino acid, followed by ring closure to a hydantoin with concomitant explulsion of the recyclable auxiliary. The hydrolysis of the hydantoin products provides derivatives of quaternary amino acids. The arylation avoids the use of heavy‐metal additives, and is successful with a range of amino acids and with aryl rings of varying electronic character.     

Enantioselective Synthesis of α‐Hydroxy Amides and β‐Amino Alcohols from α‐Keto Amides

Synthesis of enantiomerically enriched α‐hydroxy amides and β‐amino alcohols has been accomplished by enantioselective reduction of α‐keto amides with hydrosilanes. A series of α‐keto amides were reduced in the presence of chiral Cu^II/(S)‐DTBM‐SEGPHOS catalyst to give the corresponding optically active α‐hydroxy amides with excellent enantioselectivities by using (EtO)₃SiH as a reducing agent. Furthermore, a one‐pot complete reduction of both ketone and amide groups of α‐keto amides has been achieved using the same chiral copper catalyst followed by tetra‐n‐butylammonium fluoride (TBAF) catalyst in presence of (EtO)₃SiH to afford the corresponding chiral β‐amino alcohol derivatives.     

Stereodivergent Dual Catalytic α‐Allylation of Protected α‐Amino‐ and α‐Hydroxyacetaldehydes

Fully stereodivergent dual‐catalytic α‐allylation of protected α‐amino‐ and α‐hydroxyacetaldehydes is achieved through iridium‐ and amine‐catalyzed substitution of racemic allylic alcohols with chiral enamines generated in situ. The operationally simple method furnishes useful aldehyde building blocks in good yields, more than 99 % ee, and with d.r. values greater than 20:1 in some cases. Additionally, the γ,δ‐unsaturated products can be further functionalized in a stereodivergent fashion with high selectivity and with preservation of stereochemical integrity at the C_α position.     

Brønsted Acid Assisted Regio‐ and Enantioselective Direct O‐Nitroso Aldol Reaction Catalysed by α,α‐Diphenylprolinol Trimethylsilyl Ether

In the presence of p‐nitrobenzoic acid, the O‐nitroso aldol reaction of nitrosobenzene with enolisable aldehydes may be promoted by commercially available α,α‐diphenylprolinol trimethylsilyl ether. The reaction proceeds with good yields and essentially complete enantioselectivity, with catalyst loadings in the 5–10 mol % range. The resulting α‐oxyaldehyde adducts may be transformed in situ into α‐oxyimines, which provide 1,2‐amino alcohols upon treatment with Grignard reagents, in good overall yield (45–59 %) and with typical diastereomeric ratios ≥95:5.     

Stereoretentive Addition of N‐tert‐Butylsulfonyl‐α‐Amido Silanes to Aldehydes,Ketones, α,β‐Unsaturated Esters,and Imines

Enantioenriched N‐tert‐butylsulfonyl‐α‐amido silanes were successfully reacted with aldehydes, ketones, imines, and α,β‐unsaturated esters in the presence of a sub‐stoichiometric amount of CsF (0.5 equiv) in 1,2‐dimethoxyethane (DME) at ?20 °C to afford the corresponding coupling products with up to 89 % enantiospecificity in a retentive manner.     

Arrangement of Proteinogenic α‐Amino Acids on a Cyclic Peptide Comprising Alternate Biphenyl‐Cored ζ‐Amino Acids

Aiming at precisely arranging several proteinogenic α‐amino acids on a folded scaffold, we have developed a cyclic hexapeptide comprising an alternate sequence of biphenyl‐cored ζ‐amino acids and proteinogenic α‐amino acids such as l ‐leucine. The amino acids were connected by typical peptide synthesis, and the resultant linear hexapeptide was intramolecularly cyclized to form a target cyclic peptide. Theoretical analyses and NMR spectroscopy suggested that the cyclic peptide was folded into an unsymmetrical conformation, and the structure was likely to be flexible in CHCl₃. The optical properties including UV/Vis absorption, fluorescence, and circular dichroism (CD) were also evaluated. Furthermore, the cyclic peptide became soluble in water by introducing three carboxylate groups at the periphery of the cyclic skeleton. This α/ζ‐alternating cyclic peptide is therefore expected to serve as a unique scaffold for arranging several functionalities.     

Byproduct‐Catalyzed Four‐Component Reactions of Aldehydes with Hexamethyldisilazane,Chloroformates, and Nucleophiles in Acetonitrile Leading to Protected Primary Amines, β‐Amino Esters,and β‐Amino Ketones

Multicomponent reactions are a very powerful tool for the construction of complex organic molecules by using readily available starting materials. While most of the multicomponent reactions discovered so far consist of three components, the reactions with four or more components remain sparse. We have successfully developed several four‐component reactions using a catalytic amount of water as a hydrolyzing agent to decompose byproduct chlorotrimethylsilane (TMSCl) to yield secondary byproduct HCl that serves as a catalyst. In the presence of 40 mol % of water, the four‐component reaction of aldehydes with hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS), chloroformates, and silylated nucleophiles proceeds smoothly at room temperature to give a range of protected primary amines in moderate to excellent yields. Importantly, a wide variety of protic carbon nucleophiles, such as β‐keto esters, β‐diketones, and ketones, have further been explored as suitable substrates for the synthesis of protected β‐amino esters and β‐amino ketones that are useful building blocks for various pharmaceuticals and natural products. These four‐component reactions proceed through a pathway of tandem nitrogen protection/imine formation/imine addition, and the decomposition of byproduct TMSCl, generated in the first step of nitrogen protection, with water results in the formation of secondary byproduct HCl, a strong Brønsted acid that catalyzes the following imine formation/imine addition. Taking advantage of the fact that alcohols or phenols are also able to decompose byproduct TMSCl to yield secondary byproduct HCl, no catalyst is needed at all for the four‐component reactions with aldehydes bearing hydroxy groups.     

Engineered L‐Serine Hydroxymethyltransferase from Streptococcus thermophilus for the Synthesis of α,α‐Dialkyl‐α‐Amino Acids

α,α‐Disubstituted α‐amino acids are central to biotechnological and biomedical chemical processes for their own sake and as substructures of biologically active molecules for diverse biomedical applications. Structurally, these compounds contain a quaternary stereocenter, which is particularly challenging for stereoselective synthesis. The pyridoxal‐5′‐phosphate (PLP)‐dependent L ‐serine hydroxymethyltransferase from Streptococcus thermophilus (SHMT_Sth; EC 2.1.2.1) was engineered to achieve the stereoselective synthesis of a broad structural variety of α,α‐dialkyl‐α‐amino acids. This was accomplished by the formation of quaternary stereocenters through aldol addition of the amino acids D ‐Ala and D ‐Ser to a wide acceptor scope catalyzed by the minimalist SHMT_Sth Y55T variant overcoming the limitation of the native enzyme for Gly. The SHMT_Sth Y55T variant tolerates aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes as well as hydroxy‐ and nitrogen‐containing aldehydes as acceptors.     

Diphenylprolinol Silyl Ether as a Catalyst in an Enantioselective,Catalytic Michael Reaction for the Formation of α,α‐Disubstituted α‐Amino Acid Derivatives

Direct and enantioselective : Diphenylprolinol silyl ether was found to catalyze the direct, asymmetric Michael reaction of 4‐substituted 2‐aryl‐2‐oxazoline‐5‐one and α,β‐unsaturated aldehydes, affording the chiral α,α‐disubstituted α‐amino acid derivatives with excellent enantioselectivity.

     

Palladium‐Catalyzed Insertion of α‐Diazoesters into Vinyl Halides To Generate α,β‐Unsaturated γ‐Amino Esters

As easy as 1, 2, 3 : A palladium‐catalyzed three‐component coupling generates α,β‐unsaturated γ‐amino acids in a single step (see scheme). The reaction is believed to involve migration of a vinyl substituent to a highly electrophilic palladium carbene. Unlike previous synthetic approaches, this synthesis provides access to γ‐amino acids with non‐natural side chains.

     

Catalytic Enantioselective Synthesis of N,Cα,Cα‐Trisubstituted α‐Amino Acid Derivatives Using 1H‐Imidazol‐4(5H)‐ones as Key Templates

1H‐Imidazol‐4(5H)‐ones are introduced as novel nucleophilic α‐amino acid equivalents in asymmetric synthesis. These compounds not only allow highly efficient construction of tetrasubstituted stereogenic centers, but unlike hitherto known templates, provide direct access to N‐substituted (alkyl, allyl, aryl) α‐amino acid derivatives.