N-(Benzyloxycarbonyl)-L-vinylglycike Methyl Ester from L-Methionine Methyl Ester Hydrochloride

Continuous-flow thermolysis for the preparation of vinylglycine derivatives

Syn sulfoxide elimination was carried out under continuous-flow conditions in a mesofluidic thermolysis reactor. The design of the reactor enabled accurate control of reaction time and conditions, affording a convenient scale-independent procedure for the production of N,C-protected vinylglycine derivatives. Thermolysis at 270 °C under 1000 psi of pressure in superheated toluene enabled typical daily outputs ranging from 11 to 46 g per day with excellent selectivities and ee (>97%). The various competitive reaction pathways were studied and rationalized according to a computational study.

alpha-Amino-beta-hydroxy-gamma-lactam for constraining peptide Ser and Thr residue conformation

Alpha-amino-beta-hydroxy-gamma-lactam 1 is a peptide mimic in which the Ser/Thr residue omega-, psi-, and chi-dihedral angle geometry all are constrained by the 5-membered lactam ring. Lactams 1 were made by employing N-(Fmoc)oxiranylglycine 3 as a bis-electrophile in TFE with cat. BzOH to sequentially alkylate and acylate a variety of amino acid derivatives in one pot. Solid-phase synthesis of beta-hydroxy-gamma-lactam 8, an analogue of the IL-1 modulator 101.10, was achieved using this method for studying Ser/Thr geometry.

Enantioselective synthesis of non-natural aromatic alpha-amino acids

We present two complementary methods for the stereoselective synthesis of non-natural alpha-amino acids with aromatic or heteroaromatic side chains. One approach is based on the chemical transformation of methionine, whereas the other applies the stereoselective Myers alkylation of glycine. The resulting product types differ in the linker length between glycine and the aromatic substituent. Since methionine and pseudoephedrine are available in both absolute configurations, R- or S-configured enantiopure amino acids with either C(2) or C(3) linkers can be obtained on gram scales. In each case the key step of the synthesis is hydroboration of the unsaturated building blocks 9 and 17, followed by palladium-catalyzed Suzuki cross-coupling with aryl halides. Attention must in certain cases be paid to the stereochemical integrity when basic Suzuki conditions are applied. Our initial difficulties are reported as well as the final "racemization-proof" procedures. The protecting groups chosen for the alpha-amino acids should be compatible with solid-phase peptide synthesis. This was confirmed by the successful synthesis of a series of tripeptides.

A general approach to dehydro-Freidinger lactams: ex-chiral pool synthesis and spectroscopic evaluation as potential reverse turn inducers

Starting from natural alpha-amino acids, a practical synthesis of the dehydro-Freidinger lactams 9a-h based on the ring-closing olefin metathesis reaction was investigated. The presented examples comprise 6-, 7-, 8-, 9-, and 10-membered cyclic dipeptide mimics. Structural variations were demonstrated. We approached the metathesis precursors 8a-h employing an N-alkylation/peptide-coupling strategy. Subsequent ring closure was promoted by the ruthenium-based catalyst 10a or 10b. The resulting tetraresidue 11d was shown to undergo intramolecular hydrogen bonding based on NMR and FT-IR studies. Thus, the development of dehydro-Freidinger lactams as potential reverse turn inducers stabilizing an intramolecular NH(i+3)...CO(i) hydrogen-bond was demonstrated.