Protecting group migration in the chemistry of 1-t-butyldimethylsilyl-4-hydroxymethyl-2-azetidinone

The alkoxide anion derived from 1-t-butyldimethylsilyl-4-hydroxymethyl-2-azetidinone (1) rearranged at −78°C into amide anion by N–O migration of the silyl protecting group. The occurrence of this intermediate was proved by quenching with benzyl bromide and phenethyl chloroformate, giving respectively N-benzyl (4) and N-(phenethyloxycarbonyl) (6) derivatives of 4-(t-butyldimethylsilyloxy)methyl-2-azetidinone.