Tributylphosphine: a remarkable promoting reagent for the ring-opening reaction of aziridines.

Tributylphosphine was found to be an effective promoting reagent for ring opening of a variety of aziridines and nucleophiles to produce anti-bifunctional products in good to excellent yield. The study showed that the reaction is initiated through the attack of tributylphosphine as a nucleophile at the carbon atom of the aziridine ring.