The reaction of N-benzyloxycarbonyl derivatives of aliphatic amino acids with NaH/alkyl iodides gave the corresponding N-Cbz-N-alkyl derivatives in good to high yields. The scope and limitations of this simple N-alkylation reaction were investigated as a convenient and flexible attempt to prepare unsymmetrically N, N-diprotected α-amino acids. The procedure is based on the N-alkylation of N-carbamoyl amino acids, a one-pot deprotection/ ...
