Intra- and intermolecular thermal transformations of 2-acyl- and 2-alkoxycarbonyl-N-phthalimidoaziridines

Heating 2-acyl- and 2-alkoxycarbonyl-N-phthalimidoaziridines leads to substituted oxazoles in 45-65% yield. Only esters of oxazolecarboxylic acids are formed when the aziridine contains acyl and alkoxy groups. The thermolysis of the same aziridines in the presence of N-phenylmaleimide and the dimethyl ester of acetylenedicarboxylic acid gives both oxazoles and the products of 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition from aziridines with two substituents at the carbon atoms but only oxazoles from trisubstituted aziridines.