Synthesis of (3-Ethoxycarbonyl But-3-en-2-yl)phenyl Sulfone and (2-Ethoxycarbonyl But-2-en-1-yl)phenyl Sulfone from Ethyl 2-Bromomethyl But-2-enoate

The synthetic usefullness of “acrylic” tin compounds has been largely demonstrated by BALDWIN and coworkers¹. We wanted to apply this methodology to prepare the peroxide precursors. Thus, we needed to synthesize (2-ethoxycarbonyl prop-2-enyl) phenyl sulfone 1, (2-ethoxycarbonyl but-2-en-1-yl) phenyl sulfone 2 and (3-ethoxycarbonyl but-3-en-2-yl) phenyl sulfone 3. We wish to report the synthesis of such compounds using the advantage of the complexing effect of Polyethyleneoxide 400 (PEO 400) on alkali cations. We also must to report the isomerisation of 2 to 3 in presence of traces of sodium sulfinate which make access to 2 difficult.