Opening of Epoxides to Olefins or Halohydrins with Vanadium(II)-Tetrahydrofuran or Vanadium(III)-Tetrahydrofuran Complexes
Inokuchi, T.; Kawafuchi, H.; Torii, S. Synlett 1992, 510.
A variety of epoxides were deoxygenated to give the correponding alkenes through the use of a [V2Cl3(THF)6]2[Zn2Cl6] complex prepared from VCl3(THF)3 and zinc. The reaction proceeds with a partial inversion of the configuration of the acyclic cis epoxide. Treatment of the epoxides with the vanadium(III) reagent, VCl3(THF)3, afforded the corresponding chlorohydrins in good yields.