N-Benzyl-β-alanine Ethyl Ester is used as a reagent in organic synthesis including that of dipivaloyloxyphenyl aminopropionate β-agonist prodrugs which are used in the treatment of psoriasis. It is also used in the synthesis of N,N''-dithiobis(N-benzyl-β-alanine) dethyl ester, which is an important intermediate of insecticide OK-135, and in synthesis of spiropiperidine-based orexin-2 receptor (OX2R) antagonists.
GENERAL METHODS: Benzylamine (7.5 mmol) was mixed with ethyl acrylate (5 mmol) in a molar ratio of 1.5:1 under acidic alumina (1 g, 200 mol%) as a catalyst and the reaction was carried out by refluxing under stirring. The reaction was heated by oil bath and the progress of the reaction was monitored by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and gas chromatography (GC) until completion. After completion of the reaction, it was cooled to room temperature and the catalyst was removed by filtration through filter paper. The catalyst was rinsed with a solvent mixture of ethyl acetate/hexane and the filtrate was subsequently concentrated by rotary evaporation. The crude product was purified by silica gel column chromatography, using hexane/ethyl acetate as eluent of choice. For aliphatic amine derivatives, a hexane/ethyl acetate ratio of 7:3, 6:4, or 5:5 was typically used to elute the monoadducts, while for aromatic compounds, a hexane/ethyl acetate ratio of 8:2 was used. The yields of the purified products were recorded and infrared spectroscopy (IR), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS) analyses were performed to confirm the product structures.
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![3-[BENZYL-(2-ETHOXYCARBONYL-ETHYL)-AMINO]-PROPIONIC ACID ETHYL ESTER](/CAS/GIF/6938-07-4.gif)
