Highly diastereoselective synthesis of quaternary α-trifluoromethyl α-amino acids from chiral imines of trifluoropyruvate.

An efficient method for highly diastereoselective synthesis of quaternary α-trifluoromethyl α-amino acids was developed via indium mediated allylation of (R)-phenylglycinol methyl ether based imines of trifluoropyruvate in good yields with high diastereoselectivities at room temperature; to illustrate the application of this method in organic synthesis, 2-allyl-2-(trifluoromethyl) aziridine was prepared in an efficient manner.