Room temperature N-arylation of amino acids and peptides using copper(I) and β-diketone

A mild and efficient method for the N-arylation of zwitterionic amino acids, amino acid esters and peptides is described. The procedure provides the first room temperature synthesis of N-arylated amino acids and peptides using CuI as a catalyst, diketone as a ligand, and aryl iodides as coupling partners. The method is equally applicable for using relatively inexpensive aryl bromides as coupling partners at 80 °C. Using this procedure, electronically and sterically diverse aryl halides, containing reactive functional groups were efficiently coupled in good to excellent yields.