Halides, sulfonyl, addition sulfones

With the exception of propadiene, the addition of sulfonyl halides and seleno-sulfonates to allenes can be totally regioselective (equation (57)) [116], The attack of sulfony] radical on the central carbon atom, which leads to a stabilized ally] radical, is probably less reversible, if at all, than the addition to the terminal carbon. The ensuing atom or group transfer occurs at the less substituted end of the allyl radical. Therefore, the reaction results in 1,2-addition to the less substituted double bond. Subsequent oxidation of the adducts when X = SePh gives rise to allylic alcohols since the [2, 3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of selenoxide is much faster than the elimination of PhSeOH. 

TABLE 5. Survey of sulfonyl halide additions to unsaturated systems and hydrogen halide eliminations to unsaturated sulfones... 

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. 

Besides radical additions to unsaturated C—C bonds (Section III.B.l) and sulfene reactions (see above), sulfonyl halides are able to furnish sulfones by nucleophilic substitution of halide by appropriate C-nucleophiles. Undesired radical reactions are suppressed by avoiding heat, irradiation, radical initiators, transition-element ion catalysis, and unsuitable halogens. However, a second type of undesired reaction can occur by transfer of halogen instead of sulfonyl groups283-286 (which becomes the main reaction, e.g. with sulfuryl chloride). Normally, both types of undesired side-reaction can be avoided by utilizing sulfonyl fluorides. 

The free radical additions of sulfonyl halides to alkenes, catalyzed by light or typical chemical radical initiators (In), were first investigated in the 1950s69. The products which are / -halo sulfones (22) were obtained via a chain reaction in which RSO j acts as the chain carrier, namely61-62,70,71... 

As a consequence of facile homolytic cleavages, sulfonyl halides (I > Br > Cl F unsuitable) are able to add to unsaturated C—C systems. To prevent (or reduce) competing polymerizations, the additions of sulfonyl chlorides have been recommended to be carried out in the presence of copper(I/II) salts (Asscher-Vofsi reaction ). Comprehensive surveys have been published on the resulting j8-halogeno sulfones (or their vinyloguous compounds) as well as on their dehalogenation products (vinyl sulfones, 1-sulfonyl-l, 3-dienes, etc.). Table 5 reviews a series of sulfonyl halide additions and facile hydrogen halide eliminations. 

Simple sulfonyl carbanions which do not contain additional carbanion-stabilising groups, e.g. carbonyl groups or heteroatoms, can be readily alkylated in high yield by modern techniques with the use of alkyllithiums and lithium amide bases. A number of allylic halides have been successfully used. In allylic halides, the halogen directly attached to the double-bonded carbon is relatively inert towards nucleophilic attack (Scheme 41). In this way, sulfones (96) can be transformed via desulfonation into vinyl halides (97) or into ketones (98) by hydrolysis (Scheme 41). In contrast to ordinary alkyl sulfones, triflones (99) can be alkylated under mildly basic conditions (potassium carbonate in boiling acetonitrile) (Scheme 42). The ease of carbanion formation from triflones (99) arises from the additional electron-withdrawing (-1) effect of the trifluoromethyl moiety. 

Sulfonyl halides led to j8-halo sulfones [98-100] and phenylselenosulfonates led to ) -phenylseleno sulfones [101]. The addition of sulfonyl cyanides and sulfonyl thiocyanates afforded j9-cyano-[102] and -thiocyano sulfones [103],... 

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