Unnatural cyclic α-amino acids play an important role in the search for biologically active compounds and macromolecules. Enantiomers of natural amino acids with a D configuration are not naturally encoded, but can be chemically synthesized. The crystal structures of two enantiomers obtained by a method of stereoselective synthesis, namely (5R,8S)-8-tert-butyl-7-methoxy-8-methyl-9-oxa-6-azaspiro[4.5]decane-2,10-dione, (1), and (5S,8R)-8-tert-butyl-7-methoxy-8-methyl-9-oxa-6-azaspiro[4.5]decane-2,10-dione, (2), both C14H21NO4, were determined by X-ray diffraction. Both enantiomers crystallize isostructurally in the space group P21, with one molecule in the asymmetric unit and with the same packing motif. The crystal structures are stabilized by C-H...O hydrogen bonds, resulting in the formation of chains along the [100] and [010] directions. The conformation of the 3,6-dihydro-2H-1,4-oxazin-2-one fragment was compared with other crystal structures possessing this heterocyclic moiety. The comparison showed that the title compounds are not exceptional among structures containing the 3,6-dihydro-2H-1,4-oxazin-2-one fragment. The planar moiety was more frequently observed in derivatives in which this fragment was not condensed with other rings.
Keywords: crystal structure; cyclic α-amino acids; enantiomers; glycine equivalent; hydrogen bonding; peptides; stereoisomers; unnatural α-amino acids.