Facile synthesis of mono-, di-, and trisubstituted alpha-unbranched hydrazines.

Methods for the alkylation of di-tert-butyl hydrazine-1,2-dicarboxylate were investigated. It was found that under mild conditions mono- or di-substituted hydrazine derivatives were obtained in good to excellent yield. Furthermore, it was shown that one of the two Boc-groups of the disubstituted derivatives was selectively removed by heating, leading to precursors for trisubstituted hydrazines.