Triethylamine (3.5 ml) and isobutyl chloroformate (980 μl) were added to a solution of 3-(N-methyl-N-benzylcarbamoyl) propionic acid (1.33 g) in THF (16 ml). The mixture was stirred for 15 mins at -15° C. The solution was named solution A. (2RS)-2-[(2S)-pyrrolidin-2-yl]-2-hydroxyacetic acid (1.0 g) was dissolved in ethanol (25 ml). The solution was cooled to -20° C. Thionyl chloride (1.0 ml) was added dropwise to the cooled solution. The mixture was stirred for 2 hrs. at room temperature. Triethylamine (5 ml) was added dropwise to the solution cooled to -20° C. again. The solution was allowed to stand to rise to room temperature, and evaporated. THF (26 ml) and triethylamine (1.15 ml) were added to the residue. To the solution cooled to -10° C, the above solution A was added dropwise. The mixture was stirred for 2 hrs at room temperature. Water was added to the reaction solution. The mixture was extracted with EtOAc. The extract was washed, dried and evaporated. The residue was purified by column chromatography on silica gel (hexane-EtOAc) to give the title compound (1.67 g) having the following physical data:
