Directed Metalation of Heterocycles, 5-Methoxy-2-phenyloxazol-4-yllithium: An Approach to <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>α</mml:mi></mml:math>,<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>β</mml:mi></mml:math>-Dehydroamino Acids : Scheme 2

]>Directed Metalation of Heterocycles, 5-Methoxy-2-phenyloxazol-4-yllithium: An Approach to <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>α</mml:mi></mml:math>,<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>β</mml:mi></mml:math>-Dehydroamino Acids : Scheme 2

Scheme 2: Addition of the oxazolyllithium I to benzaldehyde and iso-butyraldehyde to form the alcohols 3, and their acid catalyzed rearrangement, ring cleavage, and hydrolysis to furnish the corresponding N-benzoyl dehydroamino acids 5.