Heterocyclic chemistry

The year 2007 was very busy and productive for the heterocyclic community. Particular highlights include a ruthenium salen catalyst which is able to form aziridines in high enantioselectivities from sulfonyl azides and cis-alkenes (Scheme 10); a palladium-catalysed intramolecular oxy-amination, converting substituted homoallylic alcohols into 3-amino-4-substituted tetrahydrofurans (Scheme 17 ); an ingenious sulfoxonium ylide mediated transformation of 2,3-aziridin-1-ols into 3-hydroxypyrrolidines (Scheme 25); an isonitrile-mediated three-component coupling of imines, acyl chlorides and electron-deficient alkynes to form fully substituted pyrroles (Scheme 30); a method for the conversion of terminal alkenes into isoxazolidines (Scheme 41); a facile formation of benzothiazoles from thioacyl anilines by reaction with DDQ (Scheme 44); and a general strategy for the formation of large rings by the coupling of an alkyne, an alcohol or amine, and tosyl azide, that is able to form up to 17-membered rings in excellent yields (Scheme 57).