Strecker synthesis is one of several means of producing α-amino acids. α-amino acids are molecules, which contain an amine and carboxylic group that are separated by a single carbon (the α-carbon).

Traumatic acid, formally trans-2-dodecenedioic acid, is a plant hormone that was isolated from damaged green beans by Caltech chemists James English, Jr., James Bonner, and A. J. Haagen-Smit in 1939.