Three amino acids were converted into the derivatives 5.2 (from glycine), 6.4a and 6.4b (from alanine), and 8.3a and 8.3b (from O-benzyl serine). These N-alkylated amino acids, which can be deprotected after conversion of the carboxyl into an amide, correspond to the general structure 2.1, a compound class of use in the study of peptide segment coupling by the ligation-acyl transfer method.