Recent Advances in the Synthesis of Optically Active α-Amino Acids

Abstract

To date, there have been explored many methods for synthesizing optically active α-amino acids. This review describes recent development of these synthetic methods from a viewpoint of three types of asymmetric bond formation at the α-carbon of α-amino acids : (i) α-alkylation of glycine and its synthetic equivalents ; (ii) α-amination of carboxylic acids ; and (iii) α-carboxylation of amines.