Modular assembly of chiral amino acid derivatives and peptides from commonly available feedstocks.

Abstract

α-Amino acids are fundamental components of proteins and natural molecules, with non-natural variants highly valued in both academia and industry for their ability to tune chemical, physical, and pharmaceutical properties. Herein, we report a photoredox-catalyzed protocol for the synthesis of optically active α-amino amides from readily available aldehydes, amines, and formamides. A dual catalytic system combining a chiral sodium phosphate with tetrabutylammonium decatungstate (TBADT) under visible light enables this transformation. The process achieves high enantioselectivity and allows two-step conversion to free amino acids without significant racemization. Consequently, diverse, synthetically useful structures-including β-branched and α,β-diamino acid derivatives, glycosylated amino acids, isotopically labeled compounds (deuterium and ¹⁵N), and peptides-have been rapidly constructed. Flow chemistry further broadens substrate tolerance and eliminates prefunctionalization steps. Here, we show that leveraging TBADT-driven carbamoyl radical generation and chiral catalysis provides a practical route to diverse chiral scaffolds, thereby advancing peptide synthesis and drug discovery.