Mild Iridium‐Catalysed Isomerization of Epoxides. Computational Insights and Application to the Synthesis of β‐Alkyl Amines

The isomerization of epoxides to aldehydes using the readily available Crabtree's reagent is described. The aldehydes were transformed into synthetically useful amines by a one‐pot reductive amination using pyrrolidine as imine‐formation catalyst. The reactions worked with low catalyst loadings in very mild conditions. The procedure is operationally simple and tolerates a wide range of functional groups. A DFT study of its mechanism is presented showing that the isomerization takes place via an iridium hydride mechanism with a low energy barrier, in agreement with the mild reaction conditions.