Epoxides and Aziridines from α, β-Unsaturated Aldehydes

Epoxides and aziridines are very useful small heterocycles. The synthesis of these three-membered heterocycles including those derived from a, a-unsaturated aldehydes is a dynamic area of research. Among numerous approaches to construction of three-membered cycles with O- or N-heteroatoms are metallo-and organocatalysis. This review summarizes and highlights the methods for the synthesis of epoxides and aziridines via transformations of alpha, beta-enals, which have been developed over the last 10 years.