Electrosynthesis of amino acids from a molybdenum nitride via nitrogen–carbon and carbon–carbon bond formation reactions involving imides and nitrogen ylides: X-ray structure of trans-[MoCl(NCHCO2Me)(Ph2PCH2CH2PPh2)2]·CH2Cl2
Abstract
Sequential nitrogen–carbon and carbon–carbon bond formation, and an electrochemical Mo–N bond cleavage step, define a pathway to methyl esters of the amino acids glycine and alanine from the molybdenum nitride trans-[MoCl(N)(Ph2PCH2CH2PPh2)2], a key intermediate being the metallo-nitrogen ylide trans-[MoCl(NCHCO2Me)(Ph2PCH2CH2PPh2)2], the structure of which has been determined crystallographically.