A series of novel chiral <i>β</i>-alkylamino-<i>γ</i>-menthoxybutyrolactones <b>6</b> were synthesized in moderate to good yields (34%～81%) with high diastereoselectivity (<i>de</i>≥98%) via the asym-metric Michael addition of various primary amines to chiral synthon 5(<I>R</I>)-(<i>l</i>-menthoxy)-2,5-dihydrofuran-2-one (<b>4</b>) under mild conditions. The structure and absolute configuration of compounds <b>6</b> were established on the basis of their elemental analysis and spectroscopic data, such as IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, MS spectra, and sin-gle-crystal X-ray diffraction. These results provide a valuable synthetic route to some biologically active compounds and complex molecules.

Key words: <, /i>, i>, γ<, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, #NAME?, Michael addition, asymmetric synthesis