Asymmetric synthesis of α,α-disubstituted α-amino alcohol derivatives

Abstract We herein report an asymmetric synthesis of α,α-disubstituted α-amino alcohol derivatives 3 , key intermediates of a novel immunomodulator, using enzymatic desymmetrization of 2-alkyl-2- tert -butoxycarbonylamino-1,3-propanediols 1a and 1b . This method makes it possible to prepare a chiral analogue of FTY720 4 . These synthetic procedures allow for a broad structure variation in order to evaluate structure–activity relationships and the mechanism of action for sphingosine 1-phosphate-1 (S1P 1 ) receptor agonist.