The stereoselective preparation of E or Z trisubstituted a,b-unsaturated esters in three steps from N-protected glycine is presented.  The key step in the synthesis is the highly selective enol tosylation of g-amino b-keto esters.  The enol tosylates are stable, crystalline compounds which undergo smooth and effective Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction with a variety of aryl boronic acids.