A general method for the N-arylation of amino acid esters with aryl triflates is described. Both α- and β-amino acid esters, including methyl, tert-butyl, and benzyl esters, are viable substrates. Reaction optimization was carried out by design of experiment (DOE) analysis using JMP software. The mild reaction conditions, which use t-BuBrettPhos Pd G3 or G4 precatalyst, result in minimal racemization of the amino acid ester. This method is the first synthetic application of the t-BuBrettPhos Pd G4 precatalyst. Mechanistic studies show that the observed erosion in enantiomeric excess is due to racemization of the amino acid ester starting material and not of the product.
