Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.129, No.40, 12084-12084, 2007
Bronsted acid-catalyzed desymmetrization of meso-aziridines
The enantioselective ring-opening of meso-aziridines with azide nucleophiles; proceeded in the presence of a catalytic amount of a chiral phosphoric acid catalyst. The reaction affords the formation of the products in excellent yield and enantioselectivity. Preliminary mechanistic studies indicate that the active catalytic species is a chiral silane that is generated in situ.