δ,ε-Unsaturated β,β-Difluoro-α-keto Esters: Novel Synthesis and Utility as Precursors of β,β-Difluoro-α-amino Acids

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/jo00125a013

Treatment of the hemiketals 6 formed from ethyl trifluoropyruvate and primary allylic alcohols with SOCl2 and pyridine readily afforded a number of α-chloro-β,β-trifluorolactyl allyl ethers 2.Subsequent reductive dechlorofluorination from 2 led to the formation of allyl-substituted difluoroenol pyruvyl ethers 3 whose Claisen rearrangement provided a convenient access to a variety of δ,ε-unsaturated β,β-difluoro-α-keto esters 4.As further transformation, direct conversion of β,β-difluoro-α-keto esters to the corresponding β,β-difluoro-α-amino acids was achieved by reductive amination of the corresponding α-keto acids with NH3*H2O/NaBH4.Furthermore, use of the prepared β,β-difluoro-α-keto ester 4a as a common precursor of other structurally related β,β-difluoro-α-amino acids was demonstrated by the synthesis of β,β-difluoroproline (18) and β,β-difluoroglutamic acid (23) through synthetic elaboration of its inherent double bond.