A short synthesis of both enantiomers of 2-aminobicyclo[3.2.0]heptane-2,7-dicarboxylic acid

[Display omitted] •Photochemical access to a functionalized bicyclo[3.2.0]heptane skeleton.•Preparation of a constrained analogue of glutamic acid.•Use of an oxazolidinone for chiral resolution of an amino acid.•High stereoselectivity in a Bucherer-Bergs reaction. A concise method is reported for the synthesis of 2-aminobicyclo[3.2.0]heptane-2,7-dicarboxylic acid, a close analogue of the glutamate receptor ligand LY354740, in both enantiomeric forms. The strategy features the creation of the core structure at the start of the synthesis via a photochemical [2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction, an efficient resolution procedure using a chiral oxazolidinone, and requires only minimal purification of the synthetic intermediates. The title compounds showed little or no affinity for the mGlu2 and mGlu3 receptors.