Tailored amination enables switchable synthesis of α- and γ-amino acid derivatives from extended quinone methides

Chao-Gang Zhang, Yu-Ping Tang, Qingqin Huang, Yong-Ke Qiu, Hailong Yan () and Lei Dai ()
Additional contact information
Chao-Gang Zhang: Chongqing University
Yu-Ping Tang: Chongqing University
Qingqin Huang: Chongqing University
Yong-Ke Qiu: Chongqing University
Hailong Yan: Chongqing University
Lei Dai: Chongqing University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Unnatural α- and γ-amino acids display a diverse range of biological activities and serve as crucial intermediates in pharmaceutical production. Specifically, the synthesis of such molecules has been highly sought after in both academia and industry. Nevertheless, their direct synthesis from simple bulk feedstocks has remained largely unexplored, and the switchable synthesis of α- and γ-amino acids through a shared intermediate has never been documented. We disclose herein a four-component reaction involving readily available bulk chemicals to facilitate the switchable synthesis of α- and γ-amino acids from a shared extended p-quinone methide through a tailored amination strategy. A diverse array of amines, including several unmodified drug molecules, along with various other nucleophiles, are readily utilized as suitable substrates in this reaction. We believe this work could inspire future intensive efforts toward the switchable synthesis of amino acids in a practical and efficient manner.

Date: 2025
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-60749-7 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-60749-7

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60749-7

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().