A facile one-pot synthesis of 3-unsubstituted-2,4-oxazolidinediones via in situ generation of carbamates from α-hydroxyesters using trichloroacetyl isocyanate

A convenient, high yield one-pot methodology for the synthesis of pharmaceutically interesting 3-unsubstituted-2,4-oxazolidinediones from α-hydroxyesters is described. A primary carbamate was generated in situ from the corresponding α-hydroxyester and trichloroacetyl isocyanate, then converted to the desired 3-unsubstituted 2,4-oxazolidinedione via intramolecular ring closure. This method is amenable to scale-up and requires no chromatographic purification.