Substituted alkyl acetimidates 2 were halogenated on nitrogen with hypochlorous acid; the resulting N-chlorimino esters 3 were subjected to basecatalyzed rearrangement, possibly proceeding through the aairine 4 or aziridine 5 intermediates. Subsequent acid hydrolysis of the intermediates gave the a-amino acid esters 6 or, by more vigorous hydrolysis, the a- amino acids 7.
