Glycerol conversion to high-value chemicals: the implication of unnatural α-amino acid syntheses using natural resources

Abstract

Glycerol derivatives are an important class of compounds, which have great applications as basic structural building blocks in organic synthesis. O-Benzylglycerol was oxidised to produce a high-value compound in high yield using a NaOtBu-O₂ system. Furthermore, the synthetic utility of the resulting product was demonstrated by its transformation into unnatural α-amino acids, thus showing the valorisation of glycerol biomass.