Stereocontrolled α-alkylation of fully protected L-serine

Diastereoselective alkylation of the (2S,4S) and (2R,4S) diastereomers of 3-tert-butyl 4-methyl 2-tert-butyl-1,3-oxazolidine-3,4-dicarboxylate (1a/b) is reported. Formation of both diastereomers of these oxazolidines was achieved by changing the order of protection steps, and their relative and absolute configurations were determined by NOESY spectroscopy. The use of the bulky ring substituent tBu together with Boc as the N-protecting group led to the exclusive formation of only one alkylated diastereomer. ((C) Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2004).