Development of a new linker for the solid-phase synthesis of N-hydroxylated and N-methylated secondary amines

Merrifield resin was modified by the introduction of an ortho-nitrophenylethanal group that served as a linker moiety to attach amines to the resin by reductive amination. Resin-bound tertiary amines were shown to be readily transferred into the respective liberated N-hydroxylated or N-methylated derivatives by either an oxidation/Cope elimination or a permethylation/Hofmann elimination protocol. With these two divergent liberation/derivatization options, the new resin offers new flexibility in the solid phase synthesis of N-modified secondary amines, for instance in spider toxin synthesis.