Synthesis of ferrocenoyl amino acid derivatives via homogeneous catalytic aminocarbonylation

Palladium-catalysed aminocarbonylation of iodoferrocene with amino acid esters as nucleophiles results in the selective formation of N-ferrocenoyl amino acid esters in the presence of Et3N as the base. At the same time, the use of DBU leads to the formation of new N-ferrocenylglyoxyl amino acid derivatives with reasonable selectivity. In the latter reactions two new side products, formed via acylation of DBU, were also isolated and characterised.