The classical synthesis gives racemic mixtures of -amino acids as products, but several alternative procedures using asymmetric auxiliaries or asymmetric catalysts have been developed.
Methods that employ metal peroxides modified by chiral, non-racemic ligands operate by a similar mechanism in which the metal cation plays a templating role.
If neither avenue is preferentially favored, these two avenues occur equally, yielding a racemic mix of enantiomers if the reaction takes place at a stereocenter.
As such, likely contributes significantly to the biological activitythough not necessarily appetite suppressant effectsof not only levofenfluramine but of racemic fenfluramine as well.