In industry the Aldox process developed by Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon, converts propylene and syngas directly to 2-Ethylhexanol via hydroformylation to butyraldehyde, aldol condensation to 2-ethylhexenal and finally hydrogenation.
3,4-AHBAm is made via the aminoshikimate pathway from L-Aspartate-4-semialdehyde and Dihydroxyacetone phosphate via an enzyme catalyzed aldol condensation followed by ring formation.