A method for the direct aziridination of olefins as well as a wide range of allylic alcohols employs phenyltrimethylammonium tribromide (PTAB) as a general and effective catalyst and N-sodio-N-chloro sulfonamides, chloramine salts, as the nitrogen source.
A method of preparing a 2-alkyl amino acid involves the aziridination of an alkylacrylate and the opening of the aziridine ring by addition of a side chain. This method can result in the preparation of enantiomeric excess of a 2-alkyl amino acid. The invention also discloses a method of preparing a class of iron chelating agents related to desferrithiocin, all of which contain a thiazoline ring. In this method, an aryl nitrile or imidate is condensed with cysteine, a 2-alkyl cysteine, or a cysteine ester.
