Solid-phase synthesis of an oxalic acid amide library

Monoamides of oxalic acid are of interest as bioisosteric replacements for phosphate groups in the design of new enzyme inhibitors. Here, we have demonstrated the use of oxalic acid as a linker to the Wang resin to synthesize individual or libraries of phosphate biosteres. The highly reactive resin-bound acid chloride reacts with arylamines to yield resin-bound N-aryloxamic acids (oxanilic acids). This methodology is especially useful for the rapid synthesis of 2-(oxalylamino)benzoic acids (OBAs), because it can be utilized for library synthesis and eliminates the intermediate purification step necessary in solution-phase reactions. The products are cleaved off the resin with trifluoroacetic acid in dichloromethane in good yields.