Catalytic asymmetric synthesis of α-amino acids

The synthesis of the α-amino acids can be approached by means of chiral catalytic systems. A relatively new area of organic synthesis incorporates and adapts whatever type of reaction, methodology, or enantiodiscrimination processes and are complementary to each other. Perhaps the most reliable way in order to get a large range of α-amino acids in very high outputs and excellent enantioselections is the use of very small amounts of catalyst and mild operating conditions.