“…Purification was performed by column chromatography (1:9:90 30% aqueous NH 4 OH/MeOH/CH 2 Cl 2 ) to yield a yellowish flaky solid (0.238 g, 0.88 mmol, 70%). 1 Hydroxy(1-methylethyl)amino]-4-(L-isoleucine methyl ester)-3-cyclobutene-1,2-dione (6b) Compound 6b (0.034 g, 0.11 mmol, 26%) was prepared as a colorless solid starting from 3e (0.080 g, 0.432 mmol) and 5a (0.120 g, 0.56 mmol) according to the procedure used for the preparation of 4b. 1 (Hydroxymethylamino)-4-(D,L-norleucine methyl ester)-3-cyclobutene-1,2-dione (6c) Compound 6c (0.09 g, 0.33 mmol, 45%) was prepared from 3b (0.118 g, 0.75 mmol), D,Lnorleucine methyl ester HCl salt (0.136 g, 0.75 mmol) and KOH (0.042 g, 0.75 mmol) according to the procedure used for preparing 6a.…”