Sulfinimines reduction reactions

Substituted 2-oxazolidones 165 are useful chiral auxiliaries for diastereoselective functionalization at the a-carbon of their amide carbonyl group. The a-fluoroaldehydes 166 were prepared by a series of reactions electrophilic fluorination of the corresponding oxazolidinone sodium enolates with AMluorobenzenesulfonimine reductive removal of the auxiliary with LiBH4 and Dess-Martin oxidation. The aldehydes are so unstable for isolation that they are converted with (R)-/ -toluenesulfinamide to /7-toluenesul(inimines 167, which are isol-able and satisfactorily enantio-enriched. Chiral sulfinimine-mediated diastereoselective Strecker cyanation with aluminum cyanide provided cyanides 168 in excellent diastereose-lectivity, which were finally derived to 3-fluoroamino acids 169 (see Scheme 9.37) [63]. 

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