| abstract |
In the process of hydrocarboxylating an α-enamide with CO and H₂O or an organic hydroxyl compound to produce an N-acyl-α-amino acid or ester, respectively, the improvement comprising using as the α-enamide reactant, an α-enamide which has a chiral center that is essentially all L or D, thereby producing a reaction mixture containing diastereomeric N-acyl-α-amino acids or esters having two chiral centers, said mixture having essentially no enantiomeric pairs. |