Allylic 3-hydroxysulfoxides

In a conceptually similar fashion, camphor-derived hydroxysulfide 9 is oxidized diastereospecifically into hydroxysulfoxide 10 whose absolute configuration has been determined by X-ray crystallography48. Heating this diastereomer to 145 °C causes complete epimerization at sulfur to form diastereomer 11 in quantitative yield (equation 12). This type of allylic sulfoxide can be deprotonated and then added in a Michael fashion to cycloalkenones (see p. 834). 

Sulfoxides also undergo thermal elimination reactions. The elimination tends to give (3, y-unsaturation from (3-hydroxysulfoxides and can be used to prepare allylic alcohols. 

Solladie, G, Frechou, C, Hutt, J, Demailly, G, Stereospecihe hydroxylation of chiral allylic p-hydroxysulfoxides asymmetric synthesis of L-arabinitol, Bull. Soc. Chim. Fr., 827-836, 1987. 

The Sharpless epoxidation of allylic alcohols by hydroperoxides uses as mediator [45] or as catalyst [46] a chiral titanium complex obtained from the combination Ti(OPr )4/diethyl tartrate (DET) in 1 1 ratio. Kinetic resolution of P-hydroxysulfides was also observed, but without diastereoselectivity for the product P-hydroxysulfoxides [47]. We found that the Sharpless reagent deactivated by 1 equivalent of water allows the enantioselective oxidation of aryl methyl sulfides into sulfoxides to be performed with ee s up to 90% [4S-50]. The best reagent combination proved to be Ti(0Pr )4/DET/H20 = 1 2 1. Independently, Modena et al. obtained similar enantioselectivities with the combination Ti(OPr )4/DET in 1 4 ratio [51]. These two combinations are sometimes referred to as the Kagan reagent and the Modena reagent, respectively. They will be considered successively. 

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