Département de chimie moléculaire

Several N-benzylnitrones reacted with carbon dioxide in the presence of samarium(II) iodide leading to alpha-amino acids as the products of reductive C-C coupling. The best selectivities were obsd. at a carbon dioxide pressure of 50 bar at ambient temp. The influences of different functional groups in the nitrone backbone and of the coordinating additives to samarium(II) iodide on the product distribution were investigated. The racemic alpha-amino acids were obtained in up to 70 % yield based on HPLC data.