Potassium Hydroxide → (S)-2-((S)-1-azido-2-phenylethyl)oxirane

Participants

Reaction Steps

A solution of 280 mg (5 mmol) of potassium hydroxide in 10 ml of ethanol were added to a solution of 1.37 g (3.8 mmol) of 3(S)-azido-4-phenyl-1-(p-toluenesulphonyloxy)-2(S)-butanol in 50 ml of ethanol and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 1 hour. The mixture was then evaporated to dryness and the residue was partitioned between water and dichloromethane. The aqueous phase was back-extracted twice with dichloromethane. The organic phases were combined, dried over anhydrous magnesium sulphate and evaporated to give an oil which was purified by flash chromatography on silica gel using n-hexane/ethyl acetate (4:1) for the elution. There was obtained 0.47 g of 2(S)-[1(S)-azido-2-phenylethyl]oxirane: MS: m/e 189 [M]+.

Provenance & Evidence