Photoredox-Enabled Decarboxylative Synthesis of Unnatural α-Amino Acids

Recently, development of general synthetic routes to unnatural alpha-amino acids has gained significant momentum, driven by the high demand for such building blocks in fundamental research within molecular and structural biology, as well as for development of new pharmaceuticals. Herein, we highlight the recent progress in employing photoredox-mediated synthetic methods for accessing unnatural alpha-amino acids with a focus on various decarboxylative radical-based strategies.