Highly reactive, water soluble carbodiimides, intermediates and derivatives thereof

摘要

Novel water soluble carbodiimides, and intermediates or derivatives thereof, such as isoureas or isothioureas, are described. A particularly preferred embodiment is bis[4-(2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxolyl)methyl] carbodiimide (BDDC), which can be synthesized efficiently from 1,2-isopropylideneglycerol (solketal). The isoureas are effective esterifying agents. The corresponding N-protected amino acid tert-butyl, benzyl, isopropyl, ethyl, and methyl esters can be synthesized in high yield under neutral conditions, with no urea residue after simply washing with aqueous acid. Amino acid couplings utilizing carbodiimide embodiments give peptides in good yield, free of carbodiimide by-products, after washing with dilute acid, while racemization-free peptides are also obtained.