An improved large scale procedure for the preparation of N-Cbz amino acids

A simple and scalable method for the preparation of N-Cbz protected amino acids is presented which uses a mixture of aqueous sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate to maintain the appropriate pH during the addition of benzyl chloroformate. The method has been extended to other N-protections and is amenable to large scale preparation of an intermediate toward Zofenopril, an ACE inhibitor.