Readily available alpha-amino aldehydes, incorporating a methylthiomethyl (MTM) protecting group on nitrogen, are shown to be efficient substrates in Rh-catalyzed alkyne hydroacylation reactions. The reactions are performed under mild conditions, employing a small-bite-angle bisphosphine ligand, allowing for good functional group tolerance with high stereospecificity. Amino aldehydes derived from glycine, alanine, valine, leucine, phenylalanine, isoleucine, serine, tryptophan, methionine, and cysteine were successfully employed, as was an enantiomerically enriched alpha-OMTM-aldehyde derived from phenyllactic acid. The synthetic utility of the alpha-amino enone products is demonstrated in a short enantioselective synthesis of the natural product sphingosine.