Recent advances in the enantioselective synthesis of beta-amino acids.

The introductory section of this review presents some of the currently most compelling beta-amino acid targets, according to their structural types: alpha- and beta-aryl substituted, olefinic and alkynyl, alpha, alpha- and alpha,beta-disubstituted, cyclic and conformationally restricted, fluorine-containing, and phosphonic analogous beta-amino acids. The main section highlights some of the very new (1996-1998), promising methodology for the enantioselective synthesis of beta-amino acids, with especial emphasis on catalytic and enzymatic processes, as well as methods based on "chiral pool", self-regeneration of stereogenic centers , diastereoselective nucleophilic additions to prochiral double bonds, and enantioselective reactions in the presence of chiral additives.