Studies directed toward the enantioselective addition of reformatsky reagents to aldimines

Interest in β-amino esters and β-lactams has grown significantly due to their applications in the synthesis of compounds of pharmaceutical interest. Examples include β-lactam antibiotics such as the penicillin and carbapenem families. Because β-lactams and β-amino esters share a common pathway, methods to prepare either are often contaminated and thus complicated by the formation of the other. We have developed convenient and highly controllable method which can afford either product cleanly