α-Methyl phenylglycines by asymmetric α-arylation of alanine and their effect on the conformational preference of helical Aib foldamers.

α-Arylated alanine derivatives were made enantioselectively by migratory rearrangement of a urea derivative using (R,R)-pseudoephedrine as a chiral auxiliary. Incorporation of a single residue of the product α-methyl phenylglycine into an otherwise achiral oligomer of aminoisobutyric acid oligomer induced a preferred screw sense, detectable by a NMR reporter located at the remote terminus of the oligomer. The magnitude of the screw sense induction was greater when the chiral residue was located at the N-terminus of the foldamer, and in some cases the sense of induction was opposite to that of related α-methylated amino acids with α-substituents other than aryl.

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.

Intramolecular arylation of amino acid enolates.

Dianionic enolates formed from N'-aryl urea derivatives of amino acids undergo intramolecular C-arylation by attack of the enolate anion on the N'-aryl ring, leading to a hydantoin derivative of a quaternary amino acid. In situ IR studies allow identification of four intermediates on the reaction pathway.