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Updated: Jul 18, 2026

Synthesis of Esters Via a Greener Steglich Esterification in Acetonitrile
Published on: October 30, 2018
An improved method for the protection of carboxylic acids as 1,1-dimethylallyl esters
Minoo Sedighi1, Selçuk Calimsiz, Mark A Lipton
1Department of Chemistry and Cancer Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2084, USA.
Abstract:
1,1-Dimethylallyl (DMA) esters of various N-protected amino acids have been synthesized using prenyldimethylsulfonium tetrafluroborate, a reagent that can be readily made and stored, in conjunction with catalytic CuBr. These reactions were complete within several hours and afforded DMA esters in high yields. As has been previously shown in our group, DMA esters represent a palladium-labile proctecting group for carboxylic acids that resists nucleophilic attack as a tert-butyl ester would.
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