Enantioenriched β-lactams are accessed via enantioselective allylation of anilines
with Morita–Baylis–Hillman carbonates followed by a base-promoted cyclization. The
resulting 3-methyleneazetidin-2-ones are amenable to diastereoselective functionalization
to produce analogues of biologically active β-lactams. The use of nearly equimolar
quantities of the starting materials make this method efficient and straightforward.
Key words
β-lactams - allylic substitution - allylation - Lewis base catalysis