Aldehydes dimethyl sulfoxide-sulfur trioxide/pyridine

Dimethyl sulfoxide-Sulfur trioxide [1, 309, before references]. The combination of DMSO and sulfur trioxide, in the form of the pyridine complex, in the presence of trimethylamine oxidizes primary and secondary alcohols in good yield to aldehydes and ketones, respectively.55 The reaction usually is complete within minutes and the products are isolated by acidification and precipitation with water. The reagent also oxidizes allylic alcohols to the corresponding a,fi-unsaturated carbonyl compounds. One advantage over the DMSO-DCC method is that the elaborate purification required when dicyclohexylurea is a product can be dispensed with. Testosterone, with a 17/3-hydroxyl group, was oxidized toA -androstene-3,17-dione very rapidly the 17-epimer required a period of 35 min. 

One of the best activators for dimethyl sulfoxide is the complex of sulfur trioxide/pyridine, which in the presence of triethylamine rapidly oxidizes primary and secondary alcohols to aldehydes and ketones in very good yields at ambient temperature. This reagent also allows the very use l conversion of allylic alcohols to the conesponding a,p-unsaturated carbonyl compounds. A further advantage of this procedure over many of the others is the ease of work-up, especially over the dimethyl sulfoxide-dicy-clohexylcarbodiimide method. 

The sulfur trioxide-pyridine activated dimethyl sulfoxide oxidation was also a key step in an excellent synthesis of the Pielog-Djerassi lactonic acid, being highly recommended as the test method to avoid epimerization of the C-2 center in the aldehyde (33). ... 

In the first step of this reaction sequence, the primary alcohol 21 is oxidized to the corresponding aldehyde 38 in a Parikh-Doering oxidation which is related to the Swern oxidation. In general, this type of oxidation is conveniently carried out by addition of a solution of pyridine-SOs complex in DMSO to a mixture of the alcohol, DMSO and NEts. It can be assumed that dimethyl sulfoxide and sulfur trioxide react to form 0-dimethylsulfoxonium sulfate 40, which then further reacts with primary alcohol 39 to give 0-alkyl dimethylsulf-oxonium intermediate 41. Then, sulfonium salt 42 is formed and subsequently deprotonated by NEts to give sulfonium ylide 43. Finally, an intramolecular p-elimination occurs to provide the desired aldehyde 44 and dimethyl sulfide. 

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