Sulfonyl carbanions

In sulfoxides and sulfones an adjacent CH group is also deprotonated by strong bases. If one considers the sulfinyl (—SO—) or sulfonyl (—SOj—) groups to be functional groups, then these carbanions are d -synthons. It will be shown later (p. 48f. and 65f.), that these anions may either serve as nonfunctional, d -, d - or d -synthons. 

Intramolecular cyclization of 2-phenysulfonylmethyl lactam 3 took place upon reaction with lithium hexamethyldisilazan via generating its a-sulfonyl carbanion to give a cyclized postulated intermediate that can be quenched with trimethylchlorosilane to afford the stable silyl ketal 4. The later ketal was desulfonylated by Raney-Ni and desilylated through treatment with tetrabutyl ammonium fluoride (BU4NF) to afford the carbacephem 5 (94M71) (Scheme 1). 

Similar stereochemical results were obtained from the addition of the potassium and lithium ions of ethyl acetate, /V,V-dimethylacetamide, acetonitrile, acetophenone and pinacolone to 3-(/erf-butyldimethylsilyloxy)-T-phenylsulfonyl-1-cyclohexene followed by protonation or methylation of the resulting sulfonyl carbanion intermediates7. 

Normally, reactive derivatives of sulfonic acids serve to transfer electrophilic sulfonyl groups259. The most frequently applied compounds of this type are sulfonyl halides, though they show an ambiguous reaction behavior (cf. Section III.B). This ambiguity is additionally enhanced by the structure of sulfonyl halides and by the reaction conditions in the course of electrophilic sulfonyl transfers. On the one hand, sulfonyl halides can displace halides by an addition-elimination mechanism on the other hand, as a consequence of the possibility of the formation of a carbanion a to the sulfonyl halide function, sulfenes can arise after halide elimination and show electrophilic as well as dipolarophilic properties. 

The nucleophilic attack of strong bases (e.g. hydroxide ion, alkoxide ions and carbanions) on either the a-carbon111 or the sulfur atom of the sulfone group99,113 of the thiirane dioxides is the initial key step that is responsible for the subsequent ring opening and further reaction. The formation of a three-membered a-sulfonyl carbanion is not observed in these cases (equation 11). 

Significantly, (a) a-sulfonyl carbanions of thiirane dioxides, generated from the latter in the presence of strong bases such as potassium t-butoxide19 and alkoxide ions99, do epimerize to relieve steric repulsion between substituents as in 42 above and (b) the a-hydrogen in aryl-substituted three-membered sulfoxides (e.g. 46c) are sufficiently acidic to... 

Although sulfinate (50) was not actually isolated, its intermediacy was established by trapping as the isolable sulfonyl chloride 51, which suggests the formation of the a-sulfonyl vinyl carbanion 49 as the first species along the reaction route. 

To summarize under favorable conditions the acidity of a-hydrogens facilitates the generation of a-sulfoxy and a-sulfonyl carbanions in thiirane and thiirene oxides and dioxides as in acyclic sulfoxides and sulfones. However, the particular structural constraints of three-membered ring systems may lead not only to different chemical consequences following the formation of the carbanions, but may also provide alternative pathways not available in the case of the acyclic counterparts for hydrogen abstraction in the reaction of bases. 

Thus, like a, /1-unsaturated ketones and sulfones, both thiirene dioxides and thiirene oxides are preferentially attacked by the less basic nucleophiles on the vinylic carbon atom2. This would lead to formally 1,4 Michael-type adducts and/or other products resulting from further transformations following the initial formation of the a-sulfonyl and a-sulfoxy carbanions. 

V. STABILIZATION OF CARBANIONIC CENTERS BY SULFINYL AND SULFONYL GROUPS... 

In this chapter it is clearly impossible to do more than sample the extensive literature on the carbon acidity of sulfinyl and sulfonyl compounds, as it illuminates the electronic effects of these groups, particularly in connection with linear free-energy relationships. There are three main areas to cover first, as already indicated, equilibrium acidities (pKa values) second, the kinetics of ionization, usually studied through hydrogen isotopic exchange and finally, the kinetics of other reactions proceeding via carbanionic intermediates. 

The cyclization of aryl 3-chloropropyl sulfones by potassium t-butoxide in t-butyl alcohol at 30 °C (equation 20) has a p value of 2.32 for substituents in Ar202. This is considered by Bird and Stirling to indicate the formation of an intermediate carbanion which is essentially in equilibrium with the reactants. A recent review by Stirling203 deals with structure-reactivity aspects of many sulfonyl promoted reactions of this type. 

It should be mentioned here that if no other leaving group is present, sulfonyl can act as its own leaving group in hydroxide- or alkoxide-catalyzed elimination from sulfones. Carbanion formation is not involved in this but the promotion of the ionization of a C—H bond by the sulfonyl group is seen at the /1-carbon rather than the a-carbon, e.g. equation 21. 

This chapter describes the chemical behavior of a-sulfinyl and a-sulfonyl carbanions. The stereoelectronic effects of these sulfur-containing groups have been the subject of much controversy for more than a decade which has now gradually settled down. Meanwhile, the special features of the chemical behavior of these groups have been utilized for syntheses of thousands of useful organic substances. This chapter deals with the... 

Behavior of a-sulfinyl and a-sulfonyl carbanions TABLE 3. pK, values of substituted phenols in water at 25 °C... 

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