Hydrolysis rates of alkyl and aryl sulfinamides: evidence of general acid catalysis

Sulfinamides are important in enantioselective synthesis, as rare post-translational modifications of proteins and as isosteres of the amide bond. Little is known about the rates of hydrolysis for aliphatic sulfinamides or the mechanism of hydrolysis. In this Letter, we show that sulfinamides hydrolyse by predominantly a non-specific acid/base catalysis with phosphate buffer but by varying the buffer concentration, it was possible to determine the hydrolysis rates of a range of sulfinamides with water through non-linear least squares regression.     

Improved Synthesis of 1‐Benzenesulfinyl Piperidine and Analogs for the Activation of Thioglycosides in Conjunction with Trifluoromethanesulfonic Anhydride*

An improved protocol for the large‐scale production of 1‐benzenesulfinyl piperidine and other sulfinamides is described. It is demonstrated that 1‐benzenesulfinyl pyrrolidine and N,N‐diethyl benzenesulfinamide function analogously to 1‐benzenesulfinyl piperidine in the trifluoromethanesulfonic anhydride‐mediated activation of thioglycosides, and that their less crystalline nature enables them to be used at ?78°C as opposed to the ?60°C required to keep 1‐benzenesulfinyl piperidine in solution. N,N-Dicyclohexyl benzenesulfinamide does not activate thioglycosides in combination with trifluoromethanesulfonic anhydride, which is attributed to its greater steric bulk.     

Ni/NHC-catalyzed cross-coupling of methyl sulfinates and amines for direct access to sulfinamides

It was reported to develop a simple and convenient method for the Ni/NHC-catalyzed cross-coupling of methyl sulfinates and amines without an acid/base to afford secondary or tertiary sulfinamides in moderate to good yields. The method can provide the desired products with broad substrate scope, good chemoselectivity and good functional group compatibility. The presented approach may enrich the Ni/NHC catalyst system and promote the applications of methyl sulfinates in the organic sulfur chemistry.     

Catalytic Nitrene Transfer To Alkynes: A Novel and Versatile Route for the Synthesis of Sulfinamides and Isothiazoles

A novel transformation is reported for the reaction of terminal or internal alkynes with the nitrene precursor PhI=NTs (Ts=p ‐toluenesulfonyl) in the presence of catalytic amounts of Tp^Br3Cu(NCMe) (Tp^Br3=hydrotris(3,4,5‐tribromo‐pyrazolylborate). Two products containing an imine functionality have been isolated from the reaction mixtures, identified as sulfinamides and isothiazoles. The former correspond to the formal reduction of the sulfone group into sulfoxide, whereas the latter involves the insertion of an alkyne carbon atom into the aromatic ring of the N ‐tosyl moiety.     

ortho-Lithiation of S-tert-butyl-S-phenylsulfoximines. New route to enantiopure sulfinamides via a de-tert-butylation reaction

The sulfoximine group proved to be an excellent ortho-directing group in lithiation reactions. Several electrophiles were used to afford the corresponding ortho-functionalized aryl sulfoximines in good yields. The use of prochiral electrophiles lead to modest to good diastereoselectivities up to 95%. During this study, we observed a side reaction due to a S-de-tert-butylation. After optimization of this S-de-tert-butylation reaction, the corresponding enantiopure sulfinamides could be obtained in good yields.     

An Optimized Ni-catalyzed Chan-Lam Type Coupling: Enantioretentive Access to Chiral N-Aryl Sulfinamides

C−N bond formation takes on a critical significance in reactions of organic synthesis, material production and pharmaceutical manufactory. Chan-Lam has proposed a useful methodology to furnish secondary arylamides under mild conditions. However, when chiral sulfinamides serve as the coupling precursors, the Cu-catalyzed coupling reaction is found with low efficacy. Complex side-products are generated under classic conditions. Moreover, it led to the racemization of the coupling product. In this study, an optimized Ni-catalyzed Chan-Lam type coupling conditions were proposed, which resulted in clean conversion from chiral sulfinamides and arylboronic acids to offer N-aryl sulfinamides efficiently and enantioretentively. The trans-N¹,N²-dimethylcyclohexane-1,2-diamine was proven as the most efficient ligand. Under the optimized conditions, a series of chiral N-aryl sulfinamides was prepared with high chemical yield without racemization. Furthermore, a plausible and novel mechanism was proposed. Interestingly, the method could efficiently furnish a wide variety of C−X bonds by coupling arylboronic acids with different nucleophiles.     

Asymmetric Synthesis of Chiral Sulfoximines through the S‐Alkylation of Sulfinamides

Innovation in drug discovery critically depends on the development of new bioisosteric groups. Chiral sulfoximines, which contain a tetrasubstituted sulfur atom that bears one nitrogen, one oxygen, and two different carbon substituents, represent an emerging chiral bioisostere in medicinal chemistry. Chiral sulfoximines are conventionally prepared by a stereospecific nitrene transfer reaction to chiral sulfoxides; however, the number of readily available chiral sulfoxides remains limited. Herein, we report the asymmetric synthesis of a class of hitherto difficult‐to‐access chiral sulfoximines with two structurally similar alkyl chains. Our synthetic approach is based on the sulfur‐selective alkylation of easily accessible chiral sulfinamides with commercially available reagents under simple and safe conditions. This stereospecific S‐alkylation offers a general and scalable approach to the asymmetric synthesis of chiral sulfoximines, which represent important substructures in bioactive molecules.