Amino acids, being one essential building block of the living matter and being mostly chiral, are naturally one promising research topic for a chemical company dedicated / devoted to the synthesis of sophisticated natural-like research reagents.

Unnatural derivatives, such as beta amino acids, are receiving increasing attention in view of their interesting pharmacological properties. Natural compounds containing beta-amino acid moieties usually show dramatic biological effects. For instance, beta-lactams are still widely used in medicine. Some years ago, TAXOL and CRYPTOPHYCINE analogues were found to exhibit anti tumor potential. And nowadays, all kinds of unnatural amino acids are being considered as essential sub-units in peptides to influence their geometry and to decrease their metabolic rate.

In case you are interested in further information we would be happy to send you an actual list of recent publications on this topic.

Since about six years, ChiroBlock has been done research on new synthesis routes towards beta2-amino acids. In this class of amino acids the side chain is adjacent to the carboxylic acid group. In contrast to beta3-amino acids, the number of ways to such enantiomerically pure compounds is sparse.

Many synthesis schemes were proposed, none of them being economically feasible. We reinvestigate and optimise ways towards this interesting compound class. At the beginning, we explored enantioselective michael addition reactions employing organometallic compounds. Examples of those results have been published or/and patented. Now we also have turned to additional options for introducing the side chains and the desired chirality, such as enzymes and reagents which do not contain (heavy) metals.

The topic of designing synthesis routes towards this promising compound class is demanding enough to require a maximum of inspiration, creativity, knowledge and skills from our chemists. Together with the input from external scientists whom we co-laborate with – much expertise has been gained in this field during the last years.

As a customer of ChiroBlock you benefit from this know how, regardless of wheter you are looking for beta amino acids or related (chiral) compounds.

The first amino acid products have been made available. Depending on the amount you need, you can buy them either directly from ChiroBlock or via our distributing partners. Please feel free to ask for availabilities, sources and prices.