A Convenient Synthesis of β-Amino Acid

Abstract

We have reported the reductive cleavage of azlactones¹ and phenylhydrazones² of carbonyl compounds in the presence of a suitable catalyst. In this paper a general method involving a one step synthesis of β-amino acid^3,4, in good yield, through catalytic reduction of oximes of α-β-unsaturated acid is reported. This method involves the reaction of α, β-unsaturated acid with hydroxylamine hydrochloride in the presence of sodium acetate. Markovnikov's rule is followed in the synthesis of oximes of α, β-unsaturated acids.