Substrate-induced covalent assembly of a chemzyme and crystallographic characterization of a chemzyme-substrate complex.

A substrate induced covalent assembly of a highly organized chemzyme known to be effective in both catalytic asymmetric aziridination and aza Diels-Alder reactions is described and the information gained from which led to an efficient one-pot aziridination protocol. The crystal structures of two chemzyme-iminium complexes were elucidated by X-ray diffraction analysis that provides critical insights into the binding of the substrates with the chemzyme.