Gk. Jnaneshwara et al., Clay-catalyzed conversion of 2,2-disubstituted malononitriles to 2-oxazolines: Towards unnatural amino acids, J CHEM R-S, (4), 1999, pp. 252-253
Acidic clay catalyzed reaction of malononitrile derivatives with an excess
of 1,2-aminoalcohol furnishes mono-oxazolines selectively; a simple strateg
y to prepare 2,2-dialkyl-3-aminopropionic acid derivatives is presented.