A novel synthesis of the diastereomeric 5‐phenylprolines

Abstract
As a preliminary to a synthesis of the diastereomeric 5‐(3′‐pyridyl)‐prolines, which will be reported in a subsequent paper, a preparation of the analogous 5‐phenyl‐prolines is described. As a result of the reaction sequence, a mixture of the two dl‐diastereomers was obtained, which were isolated and characterised.