Synthesis and applications of silicon-containing alpha-amino acids.

Amino acids serve not only as monomers for proteins and enzymes but also as important players in signal transduction pathways. They belong to the abundant feedstock of the pharmaceutical, food science and agrochemical industries, and some are used as catalysts or ligand components. In recent years, non-proteogenic amino acids have taken on important roles. This tutorial review summarises the progress in the development of strategies to construct silicon-containing alpha-amino acid frameworks and the studies concerned with their structure and activity. It shall be of interest for the synthesis and biosciences communities.