Enantioselective Synthesis of β-Trifluoromethyl α-Amino Acids

We report herein the three-step enantioselective synthesis of β-trifluoromethyl α-amino acids including trifluorovaline (TFV) using stereoselective hydrogenation with [((R)-trichickenfootphos)Rh(cod)]BF4 catalyst as the key step.