We studied methods of stereospecific synthesis that enabled us to obtain variously substituted morpholinic compounds and to determine their absolute configuration. From a study of the chiropticalproperties of synthetic N-[2-pyridyl-N-oxide] derivatives of optically active morpholines, it was possible to correlate the sign of the Cotton effect with the absolute configuration. This correlation agrees
Chiropticalproperties of several 2 or 3 monosubstituted azetidines, pyrrolidines and piperidines as free bases and N-[2-pyridyl N-oxide] derivatives has been examined. The absolute configuration can be unambiguously established, independently on the nature of the substituent and the size of the ring, only for 2-substituted N-[2-pyridyl N-oxide]amine derivatives. This behaviour is explained in terms