One-pot, two-step synthesis of unnatural α-amino acids involving the exhaustive aerobic oxidation of 1,2-diols

Abstract

Herein, we report the nor-AZADO-catalyzed exhaustive aerobic oxidations of 1,2-diols to α-keto acids. Combining oxidation with transamination using DL-2-phenylglycine led to the synthesis of free α-amino acids (AAs) in one pot. This method enables the rapid and flexible preparation of a variety of valuable unnatural AAs, such as fluorescent AAs, photoactivatable AAs, and other functional AAs for bioorthogonal reactions.