Palladium(0)-catalyzed enantioselective O,S-rearrangement of racemic O-allylic thiocarbamates: a new entry to enantioenriched allylic sulfur compounds

Reaction of (+/-)-(E)-pent-3-en-2-ol, (+/-)-(E)-hept-4-en-3-ol, (+/-)-(E)-2,6-dimethylhept-4-en-3-ol, (+/-)-cyclohex-2-en-1-ol, and (+/-)-cyclohept-2-en-1-ol with methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, tert-butyl, and benzyl isothiocyanate gave the corresponding racemic O-allylic thiocarbamates of medium to good thermal stability in good yields. The palladium(0)-catalyzed rearrangement of the (+/-)-(E)-pent-3-en-2-ol-, (+/-)-(E)-hept-4-en-3-ol-, (+/-)-cyclohex-2-en-1-ol-, and (+/-)-cyclohept-2-en-1-ol-derived O-allylic thiocarbamates at room temperature in methylene chloride by using Pd2(dba)3*CHCl3 (dba = dibenzylideneacetone) as precatalyst and (+)-(1R,2R)-1,2-bis-N-((2-(diphenylphosphino)benzoyl)-1,2-diaminocyclohexane as ligand for the palladium atom proceeded quantitatively and gave the corresponding acyclic (R)-configured S-allylic thiocarbamates and the cyclic (S)-configured S-allylic thiocarbamates with ee values ranging from 85% to > or = 99% in yields of 76-94%. Rearrangement of the O-allylic thiocarbamates carrying a methyl group at the N atom not only was the fastest but also proceeded with the highest enantioselectivity. No rearrangement was observed under these conditions in the case of the racemic N-methyl O-allylic thiocarbamate derived from (+/-)-2,6-dimethylhept-4-en-3-ol, which has a branched carbon skeleton. (S)-cyclohex-2-enethiol of 97% ee was obtained through hydrolysis of the corresponding N-methyl S-allylic thiocarbamate. 2-((R)-(E)-1-methylbut-2-enylsulfanyl)pyrimidine of 91% ee and 2-((S)-cyclohex-2-enylsulfanyl)pyrimidine of 97% ee were synthesized in one synthetic operation from the corresponding N-methyl S-allylic thiocarbamates and 2-chloropyrimidine. Similarly, (S)-cyclohex-2-enylsulfanyl)benzene of 97% ee was obtained in one synthetic operation from the corresponding N-methyl S-allylic thiocarbamate through a palladium(0)-catalyzed substitution of iodobenzene in the presence of a base. The palladium(0)-catalyzed enantioselective rearrangement of O-allylic carbamates to S-allylic carbamates has been extended from the solution phase to the solid phase by using a methyl thioisocyanate polystyrene resin. In the case investigated the enantioselectivity of the rearrangement on the solid phase was considerably lower than that in solution.