A new solvent-free method was described for the synthesis of L-amino acids Schiff bases by the reactions of L-alanine (L-ala), L-serine (L-ser), L-valine (L-val), L-leucine (L-leu), L-isoleucine (L-Ile), L-phenylglycine (L-phg), L-phenylalanine (L-phe) with salicylaldehyde or 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde, respectively, in the present of KOH at room temperature. The structures of these compounds were confirmed by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, IR, MS techniques and elemental analysis. The results showed that the reaction time is only 10 min and the purity of the amino ac-ids Schiff bases is pretty good and the yields are up to 90%.

Key words: solvent-free synthesis, L-amino acid, salicylaldehyde, 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde, Schiff base