The base-promoted isomerization of aziridines to allyl amines is still an almost unknown reaction. However, the use of superbasic reagents has shown to be able to promote a regio- and stereoselective conversion of monocyclic and bicyclic sulfonyl aziridines. Moreover, the use of alkoxy substituted aziridines opens new routes to non-natural alpha- and beta-amino acids. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Base promoted isomerization of aziridinyl ethers: a new access to α- and β-amino acidsElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: experimental procedures and NMR data. See http://www.rsc.org/suppdata/cc/b2/b200708h/.
The isomerization of alkoxy-substituted oxiranes to hydroxy-substituted ene ethers promoted by mixed metal bases has been investigated. The structure of the oxirane substrate (the number, the position, and the type of alkyl substituents on the ring) plays an important role in driving the stereoselectivity of the reaction. Disubstituted oxiranes show a predictable preference for the E-ene ether while trisubstituted substrates give either a mixture of stereoisomers or the E-ene ether exclusively, depending on the location of the third alkyl substituent.