Biomimetic epoxidation in aqueous media catalyzed by cyclic dipeptides

We have developed a practical epoxidation of electron-deficient enones in aqueous media using cyclic dipeptides as bioinspired green catalyst. Optimizing the reaction conditions in a triphasic system led to efficient conditions providing epoxides with good enantioselectivities. Depending on the catalyst substituent chirality, both enantiomers are obtained. The cyclic rigidity impacts significantly the enantioselectivity.