Chemoselective N-tert-butyloxycarbonylation of amines in glycerol

Abstract

A catalyst-free, efficient and green protocol has been developed for the chemoselective N-Boc protection of amines by using glycerol as a solvent at room temperature. A variety of functionalized amines, such as aliphatic, aromatic as well as heteroaromatic were protected using the developed protocol. N-tert-Butyloxycarbonylation derivatives were formed without the formation of isocyanate, urea, N,N-di-t-Boc, or oxazolidinone as side products. The operational simplicity, cleaner reaction, rapid reaction convergence, functional group tolerance, excellent yield, high selectivity, catalyst-free feature and solvent recyclability are the distinct advantages of this protocol. Owing to these merits, this protocol is feasible, economical and environmentally benign.