The synthesis and structural characterization of novel N-meta-ferrocenyl benzoyl amino acid esters

A series of N-meta-ferrocenyl benzoyl amino acid esters 3–10 have been prepared by coupling meta-ferrocenyl benzoic acid 2 to the amino acid esters using the conventional 1,3-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC), 1-hydroxybenzotriazole (HOBt) protocol. The amino acids employed in the synthesis were glycine, l-alanine, l-leucine, l-phenylalanine, β-alanine, 4-aminobutyric acid, 2-aminobutyric acid and 2-aminoisobutyric acid. The compounds were fully characterized by a range of NMR spectroscopic techniques and mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS, ESI-MS).