A concise synthesis of the amino acid (2 S, 4 R)-4-hydroxyornithine is described. Starting from diprotected l-aspartic acid, the scaffold of the target compound is constructed in a three- step approach: an efficient α-nitroketone formation through acylation of nitromethane is followed by a diastereoselective reduction of the resulting ketone. In the last step, the nitro group is reduced to furnish the (2 S, 4 R)-4-hydroxyornithine scaffold. This new approach ...