Synthesis of 6- or 7-substituted 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline- 3-carboxylic acids

A straightforward approach for the synthesis of several new, aryl-substituted derivatives of the conformationally constrained phenylalanine analogue 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline-3-carboxylic acid (Tic) is described. Tic, nitro-substituted at the 6 or 7 position, was prepared by base-catalyzed cyclization of diethyl acetamidomalonate with ,-dibromo-4-nitro-o- xylene followed by decarboxylation and deacylation under refluxing conditions in aqueous HCl. Catalytic hydrogenation of nitro-Tic in the presence of 10% Pd/C afforded amino-Tic, which was then converted to iodo-Tic by a modified Sandmeyer reaction. Both amino- Tic and iodo-Tic can easily be transformed to other substituents.