Synthesis of cis-1-methyl-2-aryl-3-aroylaziridines

trans-1-Methyl-2-aryl-3-aroylaziridines readily undergo epimerization to give the corresponding cis isomers in high yields in the presence of catalytic amounts of quaternary ammonium bases (trimethylbenzylammonium or triethylmethylammonium hydroxide). The structures of the compounds obtained were established on the basis of the IR and PMR spectra and the results of elementary analysis.Translated from Khimiya Geterotsilicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 10, pp. 1353–1355, October, 1980.