Catalytic N-H Insertion Reactions with α-Diazoacetates: An Efficient Method for Enantioselective Amino Acid Synthesis

As the monomers of proteins, amino acids are critical in chemistry and biology, playing important roles in multiple fields such as synthetic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and materials chemistry. Unlike proteinogenic amino acids, unnatural amino acids can be difficult to obtain from living organisms and generally are synthesized chemically. Recently, a method involving the asymmetric N-H bond carbene insertion reaction with & alpha;-diazoacetates as the carbene precursor has shown high enantioselectivity and good functional group tolerance, allowing for the facile synthesis of natural and unnatural amino acids and the introduction of new concepts in catalysis.

Automated summary

Amino acids, as the building blocks of proteins, play crucial roles in various fields such as synthetic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and materials chemistry. While natural amino acids can be obtained from living organisms, synthetic methods are necessary for unnatural amino acids. A recent method utilizing asymmetric N-H bond carbene insertion reaction with α-diazoacetates has demonstrated high enantioselectivity and good functional group tolerance, enabling the facile synthesis of both natural and unnatural amino acids and introducing new concepts in catalysis.