Copper-Catalyzed Successive Radical Reactions of Glycine Derivatives

Abstract

Here, we present a three-component successive radical addition strategy for the preparation of complex noncanonical α-amino acids from easily available glycine derivatives, alkenes, and aryl sulfonium salts via a copper-catalyzed photoredox-neutral catalytic cycle. The utility of this method is further demonstrated by its application in late-stage site-selective modifications of glycine residues in short peptides. It is worth noting that only 1 mol % copper catalyst is required in this reaction, demonstrating high catalytic efficiency.