Stereoinversion in the diastereoselective acylation of benzoxazine derivatives with 2-aryloxypropionyl chlorides

A comparative study of the kinetic resolution of racemic derivatives of 3,4-dihydro-3-methyl-2H-[1,4]benzoxazine using racemic 2-aryloxypropionyl chlorides was performed. It was found that the acylation of racemic amines with racemic 2-(1-naphthyloxy)propionyl chloride leads to amides enriched with (3R*,2′R*)-diastereomers, while the acylation with 2-phenoxypropionyl chloride gives predominantly (3R*,2′S*)-amides. Quantum chemical modeling of the process of kinetic resolution at the COSMO-CH2Cl2-B3LYP-D3-gCP/def2-TZVP//B3LYP-D3-gCP/def2-SVP level of theory was performed. The computational results are in a good agreement with the experimental data.