A short synthesis of both enantiomers of 2-aminobicyclo[3.2.0]heptane-2,7-dicarboxylic acid

A concise method is reported for the synthesis of 2-aminobicyclo[3.2.0]heptane-2,7-dicarboxylic acid, a close analogue glutamate receptor ligand LY354740, in both enantiomeric forms. The strategy features creation core structure at start via photochemical [2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction, an efficient resolution procedure using chiral oxazolidinone, and requires only minimal purification synthetic intermediates. title compounds showed little or no affinity mGlu2 mGlu3 receptors.