Use of Diphenyliodonium Bromide in the Synthesis of Some N-Phenyl α-Amino Acids

The N-phenyl methyl esters 4 of glycine, alanine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, methionine, proline, serine, threonine, tyrosine, aspartic acid, and glutamic acid have been synthesized in good to excellent yields using diphenyliodonium bromide, AgNO3, and a catalytic amount of CuBr starting from the relevant amino acid ester. The chiral integrity of the amino acids 5 was maintained during these reactions, which were confirmed by the synthesis of dipeptide for each N-phenyl amino acid. The structures of the new compounds were confirmed by the analysis of their IR, 1H, and 13C NMR spectra in addition to CHN microanalysis or high-resolution mass spectrometry for the new N-phenyl amino acids 5 and the esters 4.