This paper focuses on the latest developments in asymmetric epoxidation of electron-deficient olefins since the review by Porter and Skidmore on chiral ligand-metal peroxide systems, polyamino acid catalysed and organocatalysed epoxidations. Particular attention has been paid to the most recent advances using chiral pyrrolidines as organocatalysts.

A strategy of highly stereoselective conjugate additions of lithium (R)-(α-methylbenzyl)benzylamide to tert-butyl cinnamate and its 2-methyl derivative combined with appropriate tandem or sequential electrophilic quenches allows the asymmetric syntheses of β-phenylalanine (95% enantiomeric excess) and homochiral (2R, 3S)- and (2S, 3S)-α-methyl-β-phenylalanine and the corresponding β-lactams (3R, 4S)- and (3S, 4S)-3-methyl-4-phenylazetidinones.

A concise review covering updated presence and role of 2-phenethylamines in medicinal chemistry is presented. Open-chain, flexible alicyclic amine derivatives of this motif are enumerated in key therapeutic targets, listing medicinal chemistry hits and appealing screening compounds. Latest reports in discovering new bioactive 2-phenethylamines by research groups are covered too.

The product distribution upon conjugate addition of homochiral lithium N-benzyl-N-α-methylbenzylamide to dimethyl-(E,E)-nona-2,7-dienedioate can be controlled to give either the cyclic 1,2-anti-1,6-anti-β-amino ester (derived from conjugate addition and intramolecular enolate cyclisation) or the acyclic bis-β-amino ester derivative (derived from double conjugate addition) in high de. The introduction of a protected nitrogen functionality into the diester skeleton facilitates, after conjugate addition and intramolecular enolate cyclisation, the asymmetric construction of piperidines in high de; variation in the N-protecting group indicates that the highest stereoselectivity is observed with α-branched N-substituents. Tandem conjugate addition–aldol reactions can also be achieved stereoselectively, with lithium amide conjugate addition to ε- and ζ-oxo-α,β-unsaturated esters giving the corresponding five and six membered cyclic β-amino esters in high de. N-deprotection by hydrogenolysis of the products arising from these reactions furnishes a range of polyfunctionalised transpentacin and transhexacin derivatives in high de and ee.

Comparison of the kinetic and parallel kinetic resolutions of methyl (RS)-5-tert-butyl-cyclopentene-1-carboxylate allows for the efficient synthesis of both (1R,2S,5S)- and (1S,2R,5R)-enantiomers of methyl 2-amino-5-tert-butyl-cyclopentane-1-carboxylate.