The object of the present invention is to provide 3-hydroxy-3-(2-thienyl)propionamides useful as synthesis intermediates of pharmaceutical preparations and the like and a method for obtaining optically active 3-amino-1-(2-thienyl)-1-propanols using the same with high reaction yield, high optical yield and industrially low cost.According to the present invention, 3-amino-1-(2-thienyl)-1-propanols are obtained by carrying out asymmetric reduction of a .beta.-ketocarbonyl compound having thiophene ring in the presence of a catalyst constituted from a compound of a group VIII or IX metal in the periodic table (e.g., a ruthenium compound) and an asymmetric ligand represented by a specified optically active diamine derivative (e.g., a diphenylethylenediamine derivative), or using a cell, a treated product of said cell or the like of a microorganism, and as occasion demands, carrying out amidation of the ester group and then carrying out reduction of the amido group. ##STR00001## (each of the substituents is as described in claim 1).