Asymmetric hydrogenation of l-menthyl α-acetamido-3, 4-methylenedioxycinnamate was carried out by two methods: i) 10% palladium-carbon in ethanol, ii) 10% palladium-carbon in benzene. Hydrogenation products were separated by fractional crystallization, and were converted to optically active 3-(3, 4-methylenedioxyphenyl) alanines by transesterification followed by acid hydrolysis.
