Investigation of Synthetic Routes towards Derivatives of 3‐(Phenylsulfonimidoyl)propanoic Acid

The synthesis of a range of 3‐(phenylsulfonimidoyl)propanoate derivatives is described. A number of strategies for the imination of the key sulfoxide methyl 3‐(penylsulfinyl)propanoate are discussed including the use of O‐(mesitylsulfonyl)hydroxylamine (MSH) and iminoiodane reagents (Ph IN SO₂R). A successful strategy for the preparation of the target compounds was the use of MSH followed by in situ coupling with a N‐Boc‐protected amino acid. The pseudo‐dipeptides thus formed exhibited interesting conformational properties in CDCl₃ solution giving evidence of intramolecular H‐bonds in all cases, except for the proline derivative.