Nonracemic 2-diazo-1-oxiranyl-ethanone, a versatile chiral epoxide educt in diazocarbonyl reactions

(S)-(-)-2-Diazo-1-oxiranyl-ethanone, prepared in two steps from (R)-(+)-glycidol, has been employed as an intermediate in several characteristic diazocarbonyl reactions to yield novel, nonracemic products including an epoxy quinoxaline and epoxy thiazoles and oxazoles.

Synthesis of ketomethylene amino pseudopeptide analogues via reductive amination of glyoxals derived from alpha-amino acids.

The reductive amination of an amino acid derived glyoxal, with the free amino group of a protected amino acid or oligopeptide fragment, has been developed as a simple and efficient method for the preparation of ketomethylene amino pseudo-oligopeptide isosteres Aa psi(COCH2NH)Aa. Trichlorosilane-DMF is the reagent of choice for the reduction.