Synthesis of α,β-diamino acid derivatives via asymmetric Mannich reactions of glycine imino esters catalyzed by a chiral phosphoramidite·silver complex

AgOTf·phosphoramidite complexes efficiently catalyze the enantioselective Mannich-type reaction between benzophenone-imine glycine methyl ester and N-tosyl aldimines in the absence of a base. The corresponding syn-adducts, which are the direct precursors of α,β-diamino acids, are obtained with moderate to good syn-diastereoselectivities (up to 9:1) and high enantioselectivities (up to 99% ee).

This work has been supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN) (Consolider INGENIO 2010 CSD2007-00006, CTQ2010-20387, CTQ2013-43446-P), FEDER, Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEO/2009/039, and PROMETEOII 2014/017), and by the University of Alicante. L. S. thanks University of Edinburgh for an ERASMUS fellowship.