Trifluoroacetic acid → Methyl D-Tryptophanate

Participants

Reaction Steps

To 4.92 g (16.2 mmol) of N-α-t-BOC-D-tryptophan in 100 mL of DMF was added 2.46 g (17.8 mmol) of potassium carbonate followed by 2.41 g (17.0 mmol) of iodomethane, and the mixture was stirred overnight at 24° C. under an atmosphere of nitrogen. The reaction mixture was diluted with water, and extracted three times with ethyl acetate. The combined organics were washed five times with 500 mL of water and once with brine, dried over MgSO4 and concentrated to give 4.67 g of a white solid. To the crude (R)-2-tert-butoxycarbonylamino-3-(1H-indol-3-yl) propionic acid methyl ester was added 15 mL of cold trifluoroacetic acid at about 0° C. and the mixture was stirred for about 2 h. The mixture was concentrated and the residue was diluted with 1N NaOH and extracted three times with ethyl acetate. The combined organic extracts were washed with brine and dried over Na2SO4 to give (R)-2-amino-3-(1H-indol-3-yl)-propionic acid methyl ester as an orange oil in quantitative yield.

Provenance & Evidence