The enantioselective heterogeneous catalytic hydrogenation of pyruvic
acid ethyl ester and benzylidene-acetone with Pd/C catalyst in the pre
sence of (S)-proline was investigated, where the reductive alkylation
of proline was observed. The structure of the main products was elucid
ated by different nmr methods and the configuration and predominant co
nformation of -Ethoxycarbonyl-ethyl)-pyrrolidine(S)-2-carboxylic acid
(1) was established.