Oxazolidinones alcohol -> aldehyde -> carboxylic

Extension of the enamine-mediated carbonyl a-amination strategy to the generation of quaternary stereogenic centers at the a-position of a-branched aldehydes under catalysis by prohne 1 [8, 9], pyrrolidine tetrazole 3 [10, 11], or L-azetidin-2-carboxylic acid 4 [8] has also been explored (Table 11.1). The observed enantio-selectivities ranged from essentially none to >99%. Derivatives of 2-phenylpropanal gave better enantioselectivities than a,a-dialkyl substituted aldehydes. Erase and coworkers [11] employed microwave irradiation to accelerate the rate of proline-catalyzed amination, and found that yields as well as enantioselectivity can be somewhat improved with shorter reaction times. It appears that the pyrrolidine tetrazol 3 was a more effective catalyst than L-proline 1 for the amination of 2-phenylpropanal derivatives [10,11]. Subsequent reduction of adducts and cyclization could be carried out to afford the respective a-amino alcohols or the A-amino-oxazolidinones. 

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