Alkenes from episulfones

The generally accepted mechanism of the Ramberg-Backlund reaction (Scheme 39) involves the deprotonation of the a-chlorosulfone by the base to give the sulfonyl carbanion (92). The latter undergoes an intramolecular nucleophilic attack on the a-carbon atom with elimination of the chloride anion and formation of the episulfone (93), which is unstable and extrudes sulfur dioxide to yield the alkene (Scheme 39).6 The Ramberg-Backlund reaction, unlike the Julia reaction, yields mainly the (Z)-alkene from acyclic starting materials. 

Thiirane 1,1-dioxides extrude sulfur dioxide readily (70S393) at temperatures usually in the range 50-100 °C, although some, such as c/s-2,3-diphenylthiirane 1,1-dioxide or 2-p-nitrophenylthiirane 1,1-dioxide, lose sulfur dioxide at room temperature. The extrusion is usually stereospeciflc (Scheme 10) and a concerted, non-linear chelotropic expulsion of sulfur dioxide or a singlet diradical mechanism in which loss of sulfur dioxide occurs faster than bond rotation may be involved. The latter mechanism is likely for episulfones with substituents which can stabilize the intermediate diradical. The Ramberg-Backlund reaction (B-77MI50600) in which a-halosulfones are converted to alkenes in the presence of base, involves formation of an episulfone from which sulfur dioxide is removed either thermally or by base (Scheme 11). A similar conversion of a,a -dihalosulfones to alkenes is effected by triphenylphosphine. Thermolysis of a-thiolactone (5) results in loss of carbon monoxide rather than sulfur (Scheme 12). 

An a-halosulfone 1 reacts with a base by deprotonation at the a -position to give a carbanionic species 3. An intramolecular nucleophilic substitution reaction, with the halogen substituent taking the part of the leaving group, then leads to formation of an intermediate episulfone 4 and the halide anion. This mechanism is supported by the fact that the episulfone 4 could be isolated. Subsequent extrusion of sulfur dioxide from 4 yields the alkene 2 ... 

In the example given here, the episulfone, prepared at -78°C from the iodosulfone, is converted into the alkene under more forcing conditions. 

The Ramberg-Baddund reaction (RBR), in its most general form, generates an alkene, 2, from a sulfone, 1 (Scheme 8T). The process involves halogenation at the a-center of 1, abstraction of a proton from the nonhalogenated a-center of the resulting halosulfone 3, and cyclization to give an episulfone (thiirane 1,1-dioxide, 4), followed by extrusion of sulfur dioxide. 

The Michael-induced RBR exploits the electrophilic nature of vinyl-substituted sulfones. Upon nucleophilic attack, the alkene double bond migrates to form an episulfone intermediate by displacement of an a-halide fScheme R.12T The product alkene, resulting from subsequent SO2 extrusion, is transposed by one position from the original alkene. The a-halide may... 

The (Z)-alkene selectivity seen in the RBR product 56 is unusual for stilbenes, in that isomerization of the relatively acidic episulfone intermediate t5 ically ensures that the (E)-isomers exclusively prevail (see Section 8.41. The reversal of alkene stereoselectivity in this case has been proposed to result from intramolecular promotion of the sulfur dioxide extrusion from the episulfone by the adjacent alkoxide. ... 

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