Microwave-assisted hydrolysis: efficient synthesis of α-substituted cysteines on multi-gram scale

A microwave-assisted hydrolysis of thiazolidines was developed for the synthesis of enantioenriched α-alkylcysteines. Under optimized conditions, the efficiency of the reaction can be considerably improved and the scope significantly broadened as compared to previously described processes. This approach is shown to be applicable to the multi-gram scale using a high-throughput microwave system.