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Synthetic methodology

An acid for an acid

Nature Chemistry volume 15, pages 1655–1656 (2023)Cite this article

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Stereoselective decarboxylative protonation can produce diverse chiral molecules from widely available carboxylic acids. However, general and practical strategies are lacking. Now, a chiral spirocyclic phosphoric acid-catalysed decarboxylation of aminomalonic acids has enabled the modular synthesis of α-amino acids.

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Fig. 1: Scope and mechanistic consideration of the decarboxylative protonation.

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  1. Center of Chemistry for Frontier Technologies, Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

    Xufeng Lin & Alemayehu Gashaw Woldegiorgis

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  1. Xufeng Lin
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  2. Alemayehu Gashaw Woldegiorgis
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Correspondence to Xufeng Lin.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Lin, X., Woldegiorgis, A.G. An acid for an acid. Nat. Chem. 15, 1655–1656 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-023-01370-3

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