Trialkylacetic acid derivatives have been reported to have muscle-relaxing properties,'and many procedures are available for the preparation of the related acids. 2 Alkylation of a- metalated a-branched acids affords good yields (65-75%) of the trisubstituted acids, however, steric factors may limit the size of the three alkyl groups. The availability of 2-oxo acids and esters [R1&R3CCOCO2H-(R)] in which R1, Rz, and R3 are unlike and may ...
