A novel preparation of scalemic N-methyl-alfa-amino acids

Alfa-azido acids can act as a starting material for the preparation of a wide range of scalemic N-methyl-alfa-amino compounds, namely phenyl- and tert-butylglycine. They are prepared by the reductive alkylation method. The esters produced by this reaction show a cleavage in their structures, and acids, amides and ethers are stable with respect to the reaction conditions. The change of borane group by the carbonyl group facilitates the reaction so that the haloboranes can react with azido acid derivatives.