ACCOUNT 1813 b-Lactams as Versatile Intermediates in aand b-Amino Acid Synthesis b-Lactams a s V e r s a t i l e I n t e r m e d i a t e s i n a-a n d b-Amino A c i d S y n t h e s i s Abstract: The use of b-lactams as synthetic intermediates has recently found considerable interest, driven by the accessibility of enantiomerically pure b-lactam building-blocks and by the discovery of selective methods for the b-lactam ring opening. N 1 -C 2 and C 2 -C 3 bond cleavage of b-lactams can now be effected cleanly by different nucleophiles, in an intra-or intermolecular fashion, under isomerization-free conditions. By this way, an array of diverse, densely functionalized, cyclic as well as open chain, aand b-amino acid derivatives, including peptides, have been synthesized. Examples from our laboratory and from others are provided.