Epoxidation of chiral electron-deficient alkenes with basic heterogeneous catalysts Original Research Article

Two chiral alkenes derived from d-glyceraldehyde, bearing different electron-withdrawing groups, were transformed into their corresponding epoxides using two different heterogeneous systems, TBHP+KF/alumina and H2O2+hydrotalcite. The system TBHP+KF/alumina was more efficient and selective, leading up to 50% diastereomeric excess (de) and has the advantage of an easy work-up. The system H2O2+hydrotalcite is an efficient, simple and completely selective method for the nitrile hydrolysis in the presence of other hydrolyzable groups, such as epoxide or ester.