Diastereoisomeric [(1R,5S)-5-{[(1R)-1-phenylethyl]aminocarbonyl}cyclopent-2-en-1-yl]methyl acetate and [(1S,5R)-5-{[(1R)-1-phenylethyl]aminocarbonyl}cyclopent-2-en-1-yl]methyl acetate reacted with m-chloroperoxybenzoic acid to give the corresponding stereoisomeric α-and β-epoxy derivatives, which were identified on the basis of their spectral parameters.In the preceding communication we described the synthesis of individual bicyclic hydroxy lactams Ia and Ib [1] from readily accessible dichlorobicyclobutanone derivative II and (+)-α-methylbenzylamine (Scheme 1). Chiral functionalized cyclopentene building blocks are increasingly used in target-oriented syntheses [2][3][4]. In the present work we examined epoxidation of compounds Ia and Ib with m-chloroperoxybenzoic acid. It is known that the synthetic potential of epoxy compounds, especially cyclic ones, is very broad (isomerization, nucleophilic cleavage, electrophile-promoted rearrangements, etc. [5-7]), so that versatile functionalization of the cyclopentene fragment in Ia and Ib becomes possible.However, epoxidation of Ia and Ib was not selective. Therefore, compounds Ia and Ib were reduced with sodium tetrahydridoborate, and alcohols IIIa and IIIb thus obtained were converted into acetates IVa and IVb that are more convenient to handle with (Scheme 2).Acetates IVa and IVb smoothly and rapidly reacted with m-chloroperoxybenzoic acid to produce two couples of stereoisomeric epoxides V/VI and VII/VIII (Scheme 3); in each couple, the more polar stereoisomer slightly prevailed (~8 : 7). Compounds V and VI, as well as VII and VIII, were characterized by anomalously strongly different R f values, and they were readily separated by column chromatography on silica gel.Although allylic BocNH and trichloroacetamide groups, as well as homoallylic hydroxy group, are known to act as cis directors in the epoxidation of cyclopentene systems with m-chloroperoxybenzoic acid [8][9][10], the corresponding effect in dihomoallylic amides IVa and IVb is insignificant. Presumably, the stereoselectivity in the epoxidation of IVa and IVb is determined not only by the effect of heteroatom but also by steric factors, which act in the opposite directions.The structures of stereoisomeric epoxy derivatives V/VI and VII/VIII were assigned on the basis of their 1 H and 13 C NMR spectra. In the 1 H NMR spectrum of cis-epoxide V, the 2-H signal (δ 3.03 ppm) is located in a weaker field (see figure) than the corresponding