Introduction <P>Oxaziridines were first discovered in 1956
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and have been widely investigated, principally for two reasons. The presence of an
inherently weak N-O bond in a strained ring promised a group of compounds of unusually
high reactivity. In addition, this system possesses the structural elements that
seem to be required in order to observe stereochemical isomerism at nitrogen: ring
strain and an atom with unshared electron pairs attached to the nitrogen. </P>
<P>Oxaziridines can be used as both oxygenating and aminating agents in their reactions
with a wide variety of nucleophiles. Oxaziridines with small groups on N, for example
hydrogen or methyl, act as aminating agents, whereas those with bulky or electron
withdrawing groups on N preferentially transfer the oxygen atom. Oxaziridine-mediated
processes are of interest due to the easy accessibility of the reagents and their
potential for asymmetric induction.</P>