Enantiopure trans -4,5-disubstituted 2-imidazolidinones via copper(I)-catalyzed ring opening of 1,1′-DiBoc-2,2′-biaziridine with Grignard reagents

The copper-catalyzed ring opening of chiral-pool-derived 1,1′-diBoc-2,2′-biaziridine with Grignard reagents affords enantiopure 2-imidazolidinones in a desymmetrizing, cascade process involving the Boc protecting group. This divergent strategy provides reaction-ready, N-differentiated products and allows two C-C bond constructions concurrent to imidazolidinone formation. A variety of alkyl, cyclic, and aryl Grignard reagents are tolerated in reasonable to good yields.