The Sharpless Asymmetric Aminohydroxylation of Olefins

A dream became reality: Twenty years after the discovery of the basic process, Sharpless et al. have developed a catalytic asymmetric aminohydroxylation (AA) of alkenes. This reaction [Eq. (a)] provides an access to such important molecules as amino alcohols and α-hydroxy-β-amino acids in enantiomerically pure form.