Azirines



Azirines are three membered heterocyclic unsaturated (i.e. they contain a double bond) compounds containing a nitrogen atom and related to the saturated analogue aziridine. They are highly reactive yet are found in a number of natural products such as the antibiotic azirinomycin, isolated from Streptomyces auras.

The strained ring system undergoes reactions that favor ring opening and can act as a nucleophile or an electrophile.