Studies on the scope and applications of the catalysed asymmetric addition of organolithium reagents to imines

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/S0957-4166(97)00516-8

The sparteine induced asymmetric addition of organolithium reagents to α,β-unsaturated imines has been used to prepare non-racemic α-amino acids and their derivatives. The effect of various protecting groups for the nitrogen atom was investigated and p-methoxyphenyl derivatives were found to give the best enantiomeric excess whilst trimethylsilyl protected imines were the most versatile for subsequent manipulation.