Isocyanates of Nα-[(9-fluorenylmethyl)oxy]carbonyl amino acids:: Synthesis, isolation, characterization, and application to the efficient synthesis of urea peptidomimetics

The Curtius rearrangement of Fmoc-amino acid azides 1 was carried out in toluene by refluxing the solution for 30 min. The resulting isocyanates 2 have been isolated as crystalline solids and are fully characterized by IR, H-1 NMR, C-13 NMR, and mass spectra. They are found to be stable for several months when stored at 4 degreesC. The acyl azides of Asp, Glu, Ser, Tyr, and Lys with side-chain protection having tert-butyl, benzyl, and Boc groups were also converted to the corresponding isocyanates 2h-m. The rearrangement of Fmoc-amino acid azides in toluene to isocyanates 2 under microwave irradiation was also accomplished. The direct exposure of solid azides to microwaves for 60 s led to the completion of the rearrangement. The resulting isocyanates, after recrystallization, were found to be analytically pure. The scale-up of the rearrangement, under microwave irradiation as tested up to 0.75 mol, posed no problems and led to the isolation of the isocyanates in 91-96% yield. The utility of isocyanates as building blocks in the synthesis of urea peptides 4 is demonstrated. Further, the coupling of isocyantes 2 directly with N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl) derivatives of amino acids 6 resulted in urea peptide acids 7 with good yield in high purity. Thus, the synthesis of urea peptide acids 7d-g containing Asp, Glu, Ser, and Tyr with a free side-chain functional group have been carried out.