The ethyl methyl imidazolium salts of amino acids, [emiml[AA], have been used as catalysts in the aza-Michael reaction. Furthermore, when chiral amino acids were used, a stereoselective reaction was achieved. The mechanism of the transformation was verified by the detection of a key intermediate by electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy (ESI-MS). (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.