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I came upon the following statement in a true/false question:

Glycine can be esterified by an alcohol in the presence of inorganic acid

Is this statement correct?

Glycine contains the basic $\ce{-NH2}$ group, which would get protonated in the presence of inorganic acid. As a consequence, would the esterification process still be carried out on the $\ce{-COOH}$ group? This paper says that the reaction needs trimethylchlorosilane as a catalyst and not an inorganic acid.

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    $\begingroup$ Me3SiCl is not a catalyst, its a reagent used in excess. $\endgroup$
    – Waylander
    Commented Mar 6, 2020 at 14:28

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The statement is correct.

The most common method for the esterification of amino acids is with anhydrous acid in alcohol. The most convenient way of doing this is with thionyl chloride example procedure or chlorotrimethylsilane example procedure as a source of anhydrous HCl.

The original procedures with HCl gas or conc. sulfuric acid are slower and lower yielding recent example

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