title: New uses of amino acids as chiral building blocks in organic synthesis.
abstract: [reaction: see text] N,N-Dibenzylamino aldehydes have emerged as a highly useful class of chiral building blocks in synthetic organic chemistry. We envisioned the transformation of the N,N -dibenzylamino aldehydes to the corresponding aldimines followed by diastereoselective methylene transfer with a sulfonium ylide to obtain alpha-amino aziridines in high yields.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institute for Kohlenforschung, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz 1, D-45470 Mülheim/Ruhr, Germany.
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Reetz
authors.forename: W K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Lee