Dimethylbut-2-ynedioate mediated esterification of acids via sp3 C–N bond cleavage of benzylic tertiary amines

A straightforward synthetic transformation of tertiary amines to the esterification of equimolar amounts of acids was demonstrated in this manuscript. The present protocol can be regarded as a straightforward synthetic transformation of tertiary amines to the esterification of equimolar amounts of acid. Moreover, the reaction is fundamentally new chemistry for the sp3 C–N bond cleavage coupled with esterification. The esterification reaction conditions are very mild and functional group-tolerated, such as hydrosilanes, alcohols, phenol, and amino acids. A mechanism is proposed in which the tertiary amine reacts with dimethyl but-2-ynedioate to form zwitterionic salt, and then the zwitterionic intermediate subsequently accept hydrogen to assist the nucleophilic attack of oxygen atom of carboxyl group at the benzyl group of tertiary amine, while a separate reaction pathway leads to esterification.