Oxidation of thioethers

Figure 3-17. Consecutive application of two reaction schemes to model the oxidation of thioethers to sulfoxides.

Clearly, for symmetry reasons, the reverse process should also be considered. In fact, early versions of our reaction prediction and synthesis design system EROS [21] contained the reaction schemes of Figures 3-13, 3-15, and 3-16 and the reverse of the scheme shown in Figure 3-16. These four reaction schemes and their combined application include the majority of reactions observed in organic chemistry. Figure 3-17 shows a consecutive application of the reaction schemes of Figures 3-16 and 3-13 to model the oxidation of thioethers to sulfoxides. 

RuCl3(DMSO)3 reacts with sulphides to form mixed sulphide/sulphoxide complexes that are catalysts for oxidation of thioethers to sulphoxides [114a] ... 

Two-component methods represent the most widely applied principles in sulfone syntheses, including C—S bond formation between carbon and RSOz species of nucleophilic, radical or electrophilic character as well as oxidations of thioethers or sulfoxides, and cheletropic reactions of sulfur dioxide. Three-component methods use sulfur dioxide as a binding link in order to connect two carbons by a radical or polar route, or use sulfur trioxide as an electrophilic condensation agent to combine two hydrocarbon moieties by a sulfonyl bridge with elimination of water. 

The most widely applied method to prepare sulfones is the oxidation of thioethers. In the course of these oxidations sulfoxides must occur as intermediates. However, since oxidation mechanisms for thioethers and sulfoxides are partly different, these oxidations will be discussed separately. A recently published method337,338 allows oxidation of a... 

TABLE 11. Oxidation of thioethers and sulfoxides by various methods... 

Many different pathways, mechanisms, and enzymes are associated with activation. These include dehalogenation, AT-nitrosation of secondary amines, epoxidation, conversion of phosphothionates to phosphate, metabolism of phen-oxyalkanoic acids, oxidation of thioethers, hydrolysis of esters and peroxides. The following is a summary. 

Anodic oxidations of thioethers such as 3-phenylthiooxindole derivatives (n = 0) or 3-oxo-4-phenylthiotetrahydroisoquinoline derivatives (n = 1) in the presence of... 

Other miscelleanous oxidation reactions involve S-oxidation of thioethers to sulfoxides and sulfones as observed with pergohde (33), the thiomethyl derivative of spironolactone (47), and suHndac (48). 

Interestingly, solution studies on the namre of the active catalyst, carried out in the case of Ti(IV)-tartrate catalysts proposed by Katsuki and Sharpless for the enantioselective oxidation of allylic alcohols, opened routes to enantioselective oxidations of thioethers . ... 

On the basis of kinetic studies, a mechanism for the radical oxidation of thioether with 36 has been proposed and is indicated in Scheme D ". The key step involves the formation of a radical cation-anion pair within the solvent cage. The presence of the pic ligand in the coordination sphere of the metal reduces the electrophilicity of the peroxo complex, thus allowing the competitive radical process to take place. 

The asymmetric oxidation of thioethers as well as kinetic resolution of sulfoxides with 30% H2O2 catalyzed by a stable, recyclable and commercially avialable solid WO3 catalyst provides a simple and effective procedure for the preparation of chiral sulfoxides in good enantimeric purity. The procedure is very easy to perform. 

Oxidation of Thioethers to Sulfoxides and Sulfones 5-Oxygen-attach ment... 

The oxidation of thioethers with hydrogen peroxide to form sulfoxides can be affected by the competition reaction to sulfone. 

Sulfoxides and sulfones can be prepared on cross-linked polystyrene by oxidation of thioethers. The most commonly used reagent for this purpose is MCPBA in DCM [8,12,32,57,80-82] or dioxane [50,83] (Table 8.6), but other oxidants such as H2O2 in acetic acid [34], oxone (Entry 7, Table 8.6), or oxaziridines [84] have also been used. PEG-bound thioethers have been converted into sulfones by oxidation with MCPBA in DCM [52,54] or with Os04/NMO [85], The oxidation of thioethers to sulfoxides requires careful control of the reaction conditions to prevent the formation of sulfones. Sulfones have also been prepared by S-alkylation of polystyrene-bound sulfi-nates (Entries 8 and 9, Table 8.6), by a-alkylation of sulfones (BuLi, THF, alkyl halide [86]), and by addition of sulfinyl radicals to resin-bound alkenes or alkynes (Entry 11, Table 8.6). 

Oxidation of thioethers derived from the natural chirality pool , the readily available lactic acid and 3-hydroxybutyric acid, has been used in molar-scale preparation of enantiomerically pure sulfoxides methyl ( )-2-(phenylsulfinyl)acrylate and (K)-isopropenyl p-tolyl sulfoxide [107]. 

Strongly acidic HjPMi204o (M = Mo, W) species catalyze oxidation of thioether into sulfoxide and sulfone with 98-99% and 1-3% selectivities, respectively. The V5+ substitution increases the selectivity to sulfone up to >99% (319). 

Diethyl tartrate is the best tartaric acid derivative for enantioselective oxidation of thioethers. This finding was established for the asymmetric oxidation of methyl p-tolyl sulfide with cumene hydroperoxide, that is, 96% ee (DET) 87% ee (diisopropyl tartrate) 62% ee (dimethyl tartrate) [24] and 1.5% ee (bis A, V-dimethy I tart rami de, r-BuOOH as the oxidant) [17]. 

The latter, on reaction with methylamine yielded via the P-epoxide 373, the trans-a aminoalcohol 374, which was N-acylated to the amide 375. Acid-catalysed dehydration of the tertiary alcohol 375, led to the olefin 375, from which the key radical precursor, the chlorothioether377 was secured in quantitative yield by reaction with N-chlorosuccinimide. In keeping with the earlier results recorded for structurally related compounds, 377 on heating in the presence of ruthenium dichloride and triphenylphosphine also underwent a 5-exo radical addition to generate the cyclohexyl radical 378 which recaptured the chlorine atom to furnish the a-chloro-c/5-hydroindolone 379. Oxidation of thioether 379 gave the corresponding sulfoxide 380, which on successive treatment with trifluoroacetic anhydride and aqueous bicarbonate led to the chloro-a-ketoamide 381. The olefin 382 resulting from base induced dehydrochlorination of 381, was reduced to the hydroxy-amine 383, which was obtained as the sole diastereoisomer... 

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