Chemistry Letters, Vol.34, No.2, 268-269, 2005
Direct addition of glycine derivatives to enamines
Direct addition of glycine derivatives to enamines proceeded smoothly in the presence of a catalytic amount of a Lewis acid to afford the corresponding (-)alpha,beta-diamino acid derivatives in excellent yields. In this reaction, enamines would initially act as a base and subsequently as a C=N electrophile. This is the first example of Mannich-type reactions using enamines as imine equivalents.