Nucleophilic ring-opening of epoxide and aziridine acetates for the stereodivergent synthesis of β-hydroxy and β-amino γ-lactams.

A highly regio- and stereoselective synthesis of novel β,γ-disubstituted γ-lactams with either an anti or syn relative configuration was developed from readily available epoxide and aziridine acetates. The key steps include the regio- and diastereocontrolled nucleophilic ring-opening of these three-membered heterocycles followed by mild reductive cyclization of the γ-azido ester intermediate. The method was also extended to an asymmetric synthesis of (4R,5S)-4-hydroxy-5-phenylpyrrolidin-2-one from a chiral epoxide acetate.

(E,E)-Methyl 2-[(3-nitrobenzylidene)-aminomethyl]-3-phenylpropenoate.

The mol-ecule of the title compound, C(18)H(16)N(2)O(4), adopts a T-shaped conformation with E stereochemistry for the imine double bond. The (3-nitro-benzyl-idene)amino fragment is almost planar, the mean planes of phenyl ring and nitro group forming a dihedral angle of 8.9 (3)°.