Summary.
Reactions of N-acyl-α-triphenylphosphonio-α-amino acid methyl esters with organic bases (triethylamine or DBU) were investigated as the crucial step of the base-catalyzed displacement of the triphenylphosphonium group by nucleophiles. It was proved that N-acyl-α-triphenylphosphonioglycinates are transformed to an equilibrium mixture of the corresponding N-acyliminoacetates and N-acyl-α-triphenylphosphoranylidene glycinates by bases. In the case of N-acyl-α-triphenylphosphonio-α-amino acid esters with quaternary α-carbon, the α-substituted homologues of the N-acyliminoacetates were detected to be the only primary reaction product which, however, can undergo further tautomerization to the corresponding α,β-dehydro-α-amino acid derivatives. In both these cases the reaction of N-acyl-α-triphenylphosphonio-α-amino acid esters with nucleophiles proceeds via the addition of a nucleophile to the activated C=N double bond of the N-acylimino intermediate.
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Received October 31, 2001. Accepted (revised) December 17, 2001
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Mazurkiewicz, R., Grymel, M. Reaction of N-Acyl-α-triphenylphosphonio-α-amino Acid Esters with Organic Bases: Mechanism of the Base-Catalyzed Nucleophilic Substitution of the Triphenylphosphonium Group. Monatshefte für Chemie 133, 1197–1204 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s007060200090
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s007060200090