Authors: Stephanie R. Hansen , Jillian E. Spangler , Jørn H. Hansen , and Huw M. L. Davies
Org. Lett.,
2012, 14 (17), 4626–4629
Synthetically useful transformations arise from the thermal decomposition of aryldiazoacetates in the presence of primary and secondary amines without the use of a metal catalyst. Thermally generated, free donor/acceptor carbenes directly undergo N–H insertion with amines through selective aza-ylide formation to afford a variety of α-amino esters in 53–96% yields.