[reaction: see text] Electrochemical oxidation of N-acylated serine derivative 1b in methanol gave optically active methoxylated compound 2b with an enantiomeric excess of up to 80%. The bulky o-phenyl benzoyl N-protecting group was found to be the main contributing factor for the enhanced enantioselectivity. The mechanistic aspect of this methoxylation reaction was investigated and found to proceed via a retention mechanism.
Retention of chirality of 5-membered alicyclic α-amino acids bearing N-(2-phenyl)benzoyl group in photoinduced decarboxylative intermolecular radical addition to acrylonitrile
5-membered alicyclic α-aminoacids bearing a (2-phenyl)benzoyl protective group to acrylonitrile under mild organic photoredox catalysis conditions furnished γ-amino acid derivatives with high retention of chirality via the memory of chirality (MOC) strategy. The retention of chirality in the photoinduced decarboxylation was strongly dependent on the structure of the alicyclic α-aminoacids and alkenes. To