1. Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy 2. Istituto di Cristallografia, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Via Giovanni Amendola, 122/O, 70126, Bari, Italy
Abstract:
Chiral (R)-1-phenylethylamine was successfully employed in a tandem aza-Henry addition–reduction reaction to give chiral β-nitro α-trifluoromethyl amines. A subsequent coupling reaction with N-Boc-protected amino acids leads to obtain optically pure CF3-modified dipeptides carrying two different N-protecting groups. These peptidomimetic units are characterized by the presence of the CH(CF3)NH] group as mimetic of the natural CONH] peptidic bond and can be used for the synthesis of more complex CF3-modified peptides after selective deprotection of one of the two amine functions. 2D NMR spectral analyses were employed to determine the absolute configurations of all newly synthesized chiral compounds.