Catalytic asymmetric Payne oxidation under the catalysis of P-spiro chiral triaminoiminophosphorane: application to the synthesis of N-sulfonyl oxaziridines

The studies on the development of a highly enantioselective oxidation of N-sulfonyl imines with hydrogen peroxide–trichloroacetonitrile system utilizing P-spiro chiral triaminoiminophosphoranes as an organic base catalyst are detailed. This method is general and scalable, and exhibits unique chemoselectivity, providing a practical stereoselective route to structurally diverse N-sulfonyl oxaziridines. The mechanistic investigations reveal that the reaction proceeds through the Payne-type oxidation pathway. The synthetic utility of the optically active N-sulfonyl oxaziridines as versatile organic oxidants and chiral building blocks is also demonstrated.