As a process for producing an .alpha.-amino acid, there has been known a process which comprises treating an aldehyde or a ketone with an alkali cyanide and ammonium chloride (or ammonia) to produce the corresponding .alpha.-aminonitrile (Strecker synthesis), and hydrolyzing the obtained .alpha.-aminonitrile by concentrated hydrochloric acid or the like.
Moreover, there have been known another processes for producing .alpha.-amino acids, such as a process which comprises aminating an .alpha.-halo acid, an acylaminomalonic acid ester process, a process which comprises reducing and aminating an .alpha.-keto acid, and azlactone synthesis (a process which comprises reducing a substituted unsaturated azlactone, obtainable by reacting an aldehyde and an N-acylglycine with sodium acetate in acetic anhydride, by red phosphorus and hydrogen iodide in glacial acetic acid).
These processes, however, are not necessarily satisfactory in view of yield and applicability.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds