Catalytic Dehydrogenative β-Alkylation of Amino Acid Schiff Bases with Hydrocarbon

A synthetic method for the synthesis of a highly congested α,β-dehydroamino acid through the β-C–H bond activation of an amino acid Schiff base is described. Abundant hydrocarbon feedstock could be used as an alkylating reagent to afford an α,β-dehydroamino acid bearing a quaternary carbon at the γ-position with an exclusively (Z)-geometry. Notably, a tetrasubstituted olefin could be constructed from saturated starting materials. The transformation of the synthesized α,β-dehydroamino acid into unnatural α-amino acid derivatives was also demonstrated.