Regioselective Azidolysis of Epoxides in Water Using Poly(vinylamine) and Poly(allylamine) as New Po

The toxic and volatile nature of many organic solvents that are widely used in organic synthesis have posed a serious threat to the environment. One of the recently developed methods is to use water as solvent. However, its use is limited by the low solubility of organic compounds. One of the most important strategies to overcome this limitation of water is the utilization of organic cosolvents. Thus, as new polymeric cosolvents poly (vinyl amine) (PVA) and poly (allylamine) (PAA) were prepared and used as cosolvent/catalyst systems in the regioselective ring opening of epoxide by azide ion in water at room temperature to give azidohydrine in excellent yield under mild reaction conditions. These polymeric catalysts can be used several times without any loss in their activity.