During the course of our studies towards new agents for the treatment of asthma we became interested in preparing 3-(2-pyridyl) azetidines1. 3-Aryl azetidines are generally synthesised by reduction of 3-aryl azetidine-2-ones2 or base-mediated ring closure of the appropriate NO- ditosyl-2-aryl-3-amino-propan-1-ols3. However, both routes rely on non-readily accessible 2-aryl-2-cyanoacetates and require the use of reagents which might not be suitable for ...