Novel Method for Amino Acid Synthesis

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Researchers at the University of Liverpool's Bower Group have made a significant breakthrough in synthetic chemistry, unveiling a novel method for synthesizing α-amino acids with β-stereocenters, a feat previously regarded as challenging.

Amino acids are very important homochiral building blocks used by synthetic chemists. A variety of methods have been developed to access rare or unnatural variants, focussing predominantly on control of the α-stereocenter. By contrast, and despite their importance, α-amino acids possessing β-stereocenters are much harder to synthesize.

To address this, researchers in the Bower Group at the University of Liverpool have recently reported an iridium-catalysed method that allows the direct up-conversion of simple alkenes and glycine derivatives to give β-substituted α-amino acid derivatives with exceptional levels of regio- and stereocontrol. The reaction design also provides a novel C-C cross-coupling strategy for the synthesis of challenging contiguous stereocentres.

Access the full paper here - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-024-01473-5.