Lewis acid mediated functionalization of β-lactams: mechanistic study and synthesis of C-3 unsymmetrically disubstituted azetidin-2-ones

A convenient and efficient route to novel unsymmetrically disubstituted azetidin-2-ones is described. β-Lactam carbocation equivalents of type 1 and active aromatic substrates in the presence of a Lewis acid promote a facile and stereoselective C-3 substitution to provide monosubstituted β-lactams (3,4) and symmetrically disubstituted β-lactams (5). cis-3-(4′-Methoxyphenyl)-3-phenylthioazetidin-2-ones (4) undergo further substitution with active aromatic substrates mediated by a Lewis acid to afford unsymmetrically disubstituted azetidin-2-ones (7).