A general and efficient synthesis of α-haloglycine esters from commercially available feedstock chemicals, in a single step, is reported. The reactivity of these α-haloglycine esters with various nucleophiles was studied as surrogates of α-iminoesters upon activation with hydrogen-bond donor catalysts. DFT calculations on the α-haloglycine structures (X = F, Cl, Br) accompanied by an X-ray characterization of the α-bromoglycine ester support the existence of a "generalized" anomeric effect created by hyperconjugation. This peculiar hyperconjugative effect is proposed to be responsible for the enhanced halogen nucleofugality leading to a facile halogen abstraction by hydrogen-bond donor catalysts. This reactivity was exploited with thiourea catalysts on several catalytic transformations (aza-Friedel-Crafts and Mannich reactions) for the synthesis of several types of non-proteinogenic α-amino esters.
Keywords: Anomeric effect; Homogeneous catalysis; Hyperconjugation; Non-proteinogenic amino acids; Synthetic methods.