As shown in Table [¹] , 2-(oxiran-2-yl)-1-phenylethanone (2a, R = Ph) was treated with various amines (entries 1-5). Among them, triethylamine and N,N-dimethylpyridin-4-amine (DMAP) gave the satisfactory results. In both cases, the corresponding E-isomer was obtained exclusively. Treatment of 2a with pyridine, imidazole, or Hünig's base (i-Pr 2 NEt) was suffered from low conversion. A use of catalytic amount of DMAP with a stoichiometric amount of pyridine or ...