An alkylation route to carbo- and heteroaromatic amino acids

Amino acids carrying aromatic carbo- and heterocycles in the side chain, such as naphthyl-, biphenyl- and pyridylalanines, have been prepared by alkylation of a glycine enolate with a haloalkyl carbocycle or heterocycle, with enantiomeric excess up to 87% using the ephedrine amide protocol.