Enantioselective Reaction of 2H‐Azirines with Phosphite Using Chiral Bis(imidazoline)/Zinc(II) Catalysts

The first highly enantioselective nucleophilic addition reaction of phosphites with 2H ‐azirines has been developed. The reaction was applied to various 3‐substituted 2H ‐azirines using novel chiral bis(imidazoline)/Zn^II catalysts to afford products in good yield with high enantioselectivity. The transformation of the obtained optically active aziridines showed that 2H ‐azirines act as either α,β‐ or β,β‐dicarbocationic amine synthons.