The discoveries of thienamycin and related compounds, potent and broad spectrum β-lactam antibiotics, have led to interest in the synthesis of compounds with a 1-carbapenem and 1-carbapenam ring system. Advances in the syntheses and synthetic approaches of 1-carbapenems and 1-carbapenams, which have been published from June 1980 to August 1982, are reviewed according to the synthetic methodology of these novel ring systems.