N-formylation of amino acid esters and peptides via peroxide mediated decarboxylative C-N coupling with α-keto acids

Synthesis of N-formyl amino acids and peptides, that play a crucial role in protein biosynthesis and for the development of antimicrobial peptides, faces many challenges including harsh reaction condition, biproduct management etc. Reported here, is an efficient peroxide mediated N-formylation of amino acid ester derivatives via radical decarboxylative coupling with glyoxylic acids where only water and carbon dioxide forms as biproduct. H2O2 works well with N-substituted while TBHP was successful for the N-formylation unprotected amino acid esters and oligopeptides. The methodology was extended for the synthesis of bioactive N-formyl methionine and f-MLP. The library of synthesised N-ferrocenyl as well as free N-formyl amino acid and peptide derivatives might serve as hybrid material for medicinal and electrochemical applications