Hot water-promoted ring-opening of epoxides and aziridines by water and other nucleopliles
Effective hydrolysis of epoxides and aziridines was conducted by heating them in water at 60 or 100 °C. Other types of nucleophile such as amines, sodium azide, and thiophenol could also efficiently open epoxides and aziridines in hot water. It was proposed that hot water acted as a modest acid catalyst, reactant, and solvent in the hydrolysis reactions.