Synthesis of alpha-substituted beta-amino acids using pseudoephedrine as achiral auxiliary

[GRAPHICS] beta -Amino acids are becoming increasingly attractive as intermediates in the synthesis of a variety of molecular structures. However, few methods ar e available for the synthesis of alpha -substituted beta -amino acids that are both readily scalable and highly stereoselective. Herein we report a ne w method for synthesizing alpha -substituted beta -amino acids that satisfi es both of these requirements using enantiomerically pure pseudoephedrine a s a chiral auxiliary.