Copper-catalyzed aerobic decarboxylative coupling between cyclic α-amino acids and diverse C-H nucleophiles with low catalyst loading.

An aerobic decarboxylative cross-coupling of α-amino acids with diverse C-H nucleophiles has been realized using Cu2(OH)2CO3 (1 mol%) as the catalyst under air. This protocol enables highly efficient formation of various C(sp3)-C(sp3), C(sp3)-C(sp2) and C(sp3)-C(sp) bonds under simple conditions without the use of any ligand or extra oxidant, providing a practical approach to numerous nitrogen-containing compounds in good to excellent yields. The efficiency and practicability were also demonstrated by the gram-scale experiment and three-step synthesis of a Rad51 inhibitor.