Stereocontrolled formation of amino acids and N-heterocycles bearing a quaternary chiral carbon

Stereocontrolled formation of tertiary or quaternary chiral carbons bearing nitrogen was achieved using the [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of cyanate to isocyanate as a key element. A short and highly selective sequence of reactions, starting from p-menthane-3-carboxaldehyde, was developed leading to alpha,alpha-dialkylated alpha-amino acids or N-heterocycles, depending on the method of cleavage of the auxiliary.