Selective Cleavage of Carbamate Protecting Groups from Aziridines with Otera's Catalyst

Abstract

Otera’s distannoxane catalyst was found to promote the cleavage of carbamate groups from N-protected aziridines. This method enables the chemoselective cleavage of an aziridinyl N-carbobenzyloxy (Cbz) group in the presence of other N-Cbz groups. The selectivity is due to the longer, weaker N–C bond of aziridinyl carbamates, as inferred through IR and crystallographic analyses.