the syntheses of 2-fluoromethyl-2-hydroxymehtyl-, 2-(dimethoxy)methyl-
2-fluoromethyl- and 2-carboxy-2-fluoromethyl oxiranes 5, 7, and 8 thro
ugh reaction of diazomethane with beta-keto-gamma-fluorosubstituted su
lphoxide 1 followed by Pummerer rearrangement are shown. Selected oxir
ane opening reactions with nitrogen nucleophiles to give beta, gamma-d
ihydroxy-beta-fluoromethyl amine 14 and alpha-hydroxy-alpha-fluorometh
yl-beta-amino acid 19 are described.