A. Dureault et al., SYNTHESIS OF HIGHLY FUNCTIONALIZED HOMOCHIRAL AZETIDINES AND AZETIDINE-2-CARBOXYLIC ESTERS, Tetrahedron, 49(20), 1993, pp. 4201-4210
Homochiral (2S, 3S)-3-benzyloxy-2-formyl-azetidines 2, (2S, 3S)-3-benz
yloxy-2-carbomethoxy--azetidines 3 and the highly strained )-N-p-metho
xyphenyl-2-silyloxymethyl-3-azetidinone 4 were successfully synthesize
d starting from diethyl-L-tartrate. The suitably functionalized azetid
ine ring is formed in a single synthetic operation with minimum protec
ting group chemistry.