Catalytic Enantioselective Synthesis of N,C^α,C^α‐Trisubstituted α‐Amino Acid Derivatives Using 1<i>H</i>‐Imidazol‐4(5<i>H</i>)‐ones as Key Templates

Abstract

1H-Imidazol-4(5H)-ones are introduced as novel nucleophilic α-amino acid equivalents in asymmetric synthesis. These compounds not only allow highly efficient construction of tetrasubstituted stereogenic centers, but unlike hitherto known templates, provide direct access to N-substituted (alkyl, allyl, aryl) α-amino acid derivatives.