The Chiral Synthesis of Thiazole Amino Acid Enantiomers

An efficient modified Hantzsch reaction is described for the synthesis of optically pure thiazole amino acid derivatives from the corresponding amino acids. The method is exemplified by the synthesis of a derivative of L-(Gln)Thz, the novel chiral thiazole amino acid moiety of dolastatin 3. The Cotton effects of thiazole amino acids correlate well with the absolute stereochemistry of these compounds.