Stereocontrolled synthesis of methyl silanediol peptide mimics

The treatment of chiral sulfinimines with (methyldiphenylsilyl)lithium gives alpha-(methyldiphenylsilyl)sulfinamides with excellent diastereoselectivity, and in good yield. The presence of alpha-protons on the imines is also well tolerated. The sulfinamide auxiliary is easily removed via treatment with methanolic HCl and the resulting amine extended into peptide chains accordingly. The diphenylsilyl moiety is a resilient protecting group for the corresponding silanediol, which can be unmasked via treatment with TfOH, followed by aqueous hydrolysis. The crude silanediol may be isolated and purified as its corresponding bis-TMS siloxane via protection with TMSCl, and converted back to the desired silanediol via hydrolysis with aqueous KOH. Efforts to apply this approach to biologically relevant silanediol peptide mimics, with a view to protease inhibition, are described.