Construction of a Bicyclic beta-Benzyloxy and beta-Hydroxy Amide Library through a Multicomponent Cyclization Reaction

In this manuscript, we describe the synthesis of a bicyclic beta-benzyloxy and beta-hydroxy amide library from cyanohydrin ethers. The benzyloxy amides were prepared through a one-pot sequence of hydrozirconation, acylation, and intramolecular Friedel-Crafts alkylation. Selected benzyl ethers were converted to alcohols by hydrogenolysis in a continuous flow reactor. Chemistry space BCUT metrics and 2D fingerprint similarity calculations showed that these compounds contribute chemical diversity value to existing chemical libraries.