The isomerization of 2-trimethylsilyl-2, 3-dialkyloxiranes occurs in the presence of MgI 2 to give α-trimethylsilyl ketones only, if one starts from (2S*, 3S*)-isomers. In contrast, however, the reaction of (2S*, 3R*)-oxiranes produces enol silyl ethers in addition to α-trimethylsilyl ketones. The reaction proceeds via the Mg salts of regioand stereoselectively produced β- iodo-β-trimethylsilyl alcohols, each diastereomer of which behaves differently. ...
[Padwa, Albert; Meske, Michael; Murphree, S. Shaun; Watterson, Scott H.; Ni, Zhijie Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1995 , vol. 117, # 27 p. 7071 - 7080]