Herein we report a new straightforward synthesis of cis and trans 2,5-disubstituted N,N-dialkylpiperazines, even in enantioenriched form, by reacting non-activated N-alkyl arylaziridines in the presence of a catalytic amount of a Lewis acid. A stereochemical and NMR investigation revealed useful mechanistic insights for this process.
the reaction of carbon dioxide with terminal epoxides or aziridines at ambient temperature and 1 bar carbon dioxide pressure. Only 1.0 mol% of both (salen)CoI 3g and phosphorane 4d are required for cyclic carbonate synthesis, and the catalyst loading could even be lowered down to 0.1 mol%. Under this condition, no polycarbonate formation is detected by NMR analysis. It is proposed that the high efficiency