A general synthesis of opticallyactive 2H-azepines 12 starting from α-amino acids is described. The 2H-azepines easily rearrange into the corresponding 3H-isomers 18. The pungent taste of chalciporone (1) and simple 2,7-dialkylsubstituted 2H-azepines is due to the 2H-azepine nucleus and is independent of the absolute configuration at C-2.