A Caveat on the Use of 2-Chloro-4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazine for the Synthesis of 4,4-Dimethyl-2-R-2-Oxazolines

The reported synthesis of 4,4-dimethyl-2-R-2-oxazolines from carboxylic acids and 2-amino-2- methyl-1-propanol (1) using 2-chloro-4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazine (2) via direct coupling / cyclisation is questioned. The results reported herein indicate that the products are actually ?-hydroxyamides resulting from dehydrative R-COOH / 1 (peptide) coupling only, which has been known to be mediated by 2 for some time.