Both enantiomers of pseudoephedrine are commercially available. Racemic pseudoephedrine has many medical uses. Because pseudoephedrine can be used to illegally make methamphetamine, the purchase of pseudoephedrine for use in academic or industrial research is rather regulated. As an alternative, Myers et al.  reported the utility of pseudoephenamine chiral auxiliaries in alkylation reactions. While pseudoephenamine is not readily available from commercial sources, it can be synthesized with relative ease from benzil and cannot be used to make amphetamines.
Pseudoephedrine amides are typically prepared by acylation with an acyl chloride or anhydride.
<br />