Dedicated to Professor Christian Bruneau on the occasion of his 60th birthday α-Amino acid amides represent an interesting subclass of amino acid derivatives. In general, such compounds are biologically active and possess therapeutically useful properties. Selected examples of such compounds are: 1, which is used for the treatment of metabolic syndrome,[1] potent inhibitors for 11-β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 1 (2),[2] and top- ...