Ethyl Nitroacetate as a Useful Synthon for the Synthesis of Orthogonally Protected, Poly-Functional C^αα-Disubstituted Amino Acids

Abstract

The discovery of C^{α, α}-disubstituted amino acids (ααAAs) and their propensity to induce secondary structure even into short peptides has resulted in an increased interest in novel methods for their synthesis [1, 2]. Herein ethyl nitroacetate, a useful synthetic intermediate for a variety of biologically significant compounds [3], has been employed for the preparation of sterically hindered and polyfunctional ααAAs which are suitable for incorporation into peptides.