Synthesis of asymmetric iron-pybox complexes and their application to aziridine forming reactions

The synthesis of a series of iron-pybox complexes and their employment in the catalytic asymmetric aziridine forming reaction is presented. When AgSbF6 is used as an initiator, the i-pr- and t-bU-pybox complexes produce 47% of the cis-aziridine in moderate ee's with the bulk of side products consisting of the trans-isomer and beta-amino-alpha,beta-unsaturated esters (AUE's). (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.