The calculations above explained why the presence of Li + -salts (Table , entry 5) or the presence of methanol as a solvent (Table , entries 13, 14) facilitated the isomerization of amine 4 into product 3a and rationalizes why we never isolated the intermediate amine 4 in the reduction of nitrile 3 (Schemes 2, 4). Modifications. Modifications of some representative 3-azabicyclo[3. 1.1]heptanes into the building blocks ready for direct use in medicinal chemistry projects were undertaken in the next step.