Abstract Aromatic β-amino acid esters 2a-h were prepared in racemic and enantiomerically pure form by the Radionow reaction or based on the method described by Davis and used as mimics of the Asp-Phg C-terminus in LDV derived VLA-4 antagonists. As a promising β- amino acid ester, 11 was identified and used for the synthesis of the highly potent VLA-4 antagonist S9059 with an IC 50 of 1.6 nM in a cell attachment assay.