(+/-)-Dehydroleucine was prepared and resolved by porcine kidney acylase. Under the conditions of the Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation (SAD), employing AD-mix-alpha N alpha-carbobenzyloxy-(2S)-4,5-dehydroleucine methyl ester (16) gave rise to a 6.5:1.0 mixture of gamma-lactones 17, favoring the 4R configuration. Such carbamate-protected alpha-amino-gamma-hydroxylactones are not recommended as intermediates for peptide synthesis, since model studies showed that lactone 13 was unreactive toward an-Lines. Moreover, the lactone ring could not be opened hydrolytically without epimerization at C alpha. N alpha-Carbobenzyioxy-(2S)-4,5-dehydroleucine (22) was condensed with valine ethyl ester (19) to give dipeptide 23. Treatment of 23 with AD-ntix-beta, under the SAD conditions, converted the dehydroleucine residue to gamma,delta-dihydroxyleucine with 4S configuration, as occurs in alloviroidin (3), a natural product isolated from Amanita suballiacea.