Access to the gem-dimethyl structural feature in the 2-amino sugar 1 (scheme 1) would be possible via a cyclopropanation and hydrogenolytic cleavage strategy based on the assumption that ring-opening preferentially occurs from the sterically most accessible site. The 5-exo-methylene bearing precursor 2 can be traced back to the literature known mannosamine derivative 3, which was accessed via an alternative route in two steps starting from N-acetyl-ᴅ-mannosamine. The mannose scaffold has previously been utilized in our group as a starting point towards other noviose derivatives. The use of orthogonal protective groups which allow for site-selective functionalization of the C(3)-O and C(4)-O would render the present approach a generally applicable route to 2-amino-noviose derivatives.