1,2-Dimethoxy-4,5-dimethylene: a new protecting group for acyclic amino acid derivatives prepared by Stevens rearrangement

A new protecting group, 1,2-dimethoxy-4,5-dimethylene, for acyclic amino acid derivatives could be introduced by N,N-dialkylation with 1,2-bis(bromomethyl)-4,5-dimethoxybenzene (1) and removed via amine de-alkylation with acyl chlorides. The method can be used with base-induced [2,3] and [1,2] Stevens rearrangement products.