Readily available amino acid building blocks for the synthesis of phosphole-containing peptides

The synthesis of an Fmoc protected amino acid derivative containing a phosphole moiety in the side chain is described. Nucleophilic substitution of a phospholide anion onto protected 3-iodoalanine leads to the formation of an amino acid with an appended phosphole in excellent yield. Manipulation of the protecting groups, leads to building blocks suitable for the synthesis of phosphole-containing polypeptides.