Ammonium Ferrate‐Catalyzed Cycloaddition of CO2 to Aziridines for the Synthesis of 1,3‐Oxazolidin‐2‐ones

Abstract Simple ammonium ferrates are competent catalysts for the CO 2 coupling with aziridines to yield 5‐substituted 1,3‐oxazolidin‐2‐ones. Good yields with remarkable selectivity are obtained under mild reaction conditions, room temperature, and atmospheric CO 2 pressure, especially for non‐hindered N ‐alkyl, N ‐benzyl and N ‐allyl aziridines, without the need of any co‐catalyst. To shed light on the reaction mechanism, an extensive set of theoretical calculations has been carried out. A viable reaction mechanism involving just one ferrate molecule and where the rate determining step is the 1,3‐oxazolidin‐2‐one ring closure has been found, and the corresponding barrier is compatible with the experimental conditions tested in this study.