Sulfoxides, optically active

Diaryl Sulfoxides. Optically active diaryl sulfoxides are prepared by reaction of an aryl Grignard with (—)-menthyl (S)-p-toluenesulfinate 2,5-dimethoxyphenyl p-toly 1 sulfoxide (4), a precursor of sulfinyl quinones, and 3-pyridyl p-tolyl sulfoxide (5),... 

Synthesis of P-Keto Sulfoxides. Optically active p-keto sulfoxides are very useful building blocks (eq 4) because they can be stereoselectively reduced to afford either diastereomer of the corresponding p-hydroxy sulfoxide under appropriate conditions (Diisobutylaluminum Hydride or Zinc ChloridefDlBALf and thus give access to a wide variety of compounds chiral carbinols by desulfurization with Raney Nickel or LithiumJethyhmme ini the case of allylic alcohols epoxides via cyclization of the derived sulfonium salt butenolides by alkylation of the hydroxy sulfoxide 1,2-diols via a Pummerer rearrangement followed by reduction of the intermediate. ... 

With a few exceptions [55], sulfoxides themselves have not been used as ligands in asymmetric catalysis so far. However, their sulfur atom can easily be oxidized further to give the corresponding sulfoximines. With appropriate substrates and mesitylenesulfonylhydroxylimine (MSH) as nitrogen-transfer reagent this reaction proceeds in a stereospecific manner [45,56,57]. In contrast to sulfoxides, optically active sulfoximines have found wide application in asymmetric catalyt-... 

An asymmetric synthesis of estrone begins with an asymmetric Michael addition of lithium enolate (178) to the scalemic sulfoxide (179). Direct treatment of the cmde Michael adduct with y /i7-chloroperbenzoic acid to oxidize the sulfoxide to a sulfone, followed by reductive removal of the bromine affords (180, X = a and PH R = H) in over 90% yield. Similarly to the conversion of (175) to (176), base-catalyzed epimerization of (180) produces an 85% isolated yield of (181, X = /5H R = H). C8 and C14 of (181) have the same relative and absolute stereochemistry as that of the naturally occurring steroids. Methylation of (181) provides (182). A (CH2)2CuLi-induced reductive cleavage of sulfone (182) followed by stereoselective alkylation of the resultant enolate with an allyl bromide yields (183). Ozonolysis of (183) produces (184) (wherein the aldehydric oxygen is by isopropyUdene) in 68% yield. Compound (184) is the optically active form of Ziegler s intermediate (176), and is converted to (+)-estrone in 6.3% overall yield and >95% enantiomeric excess (200). 

Sharpless and Masumune have applied the AE reaction on chiral allylic alcohols to prepare all 8 of the L-hexoses. ° AE reaction on allylic alcohol 52 provides the epoxy alcohol 53 in 92% yield and in >95% ee. Base catalyze Payne rearrangement followed by ring opening with phenyl thiolate provides diol 54. Protection of the diol is followed by oxidation of the sulfide to the sulfoxide via m-CPBA, Pummerer rearrangement to give the gm-acetoxy sulfide intermediate and finally reduction using Dibal to yield the desired aldehyde 56. Homer-Emmons olefination followed by reduction sets up the second substrate for the AE reaction. The AE reaction on optically active 57 is reagent... 

A solution of the sulfoxide in THF is added to a slight molar excess of LDA in Till- while maintaining the temperature below —75 C. then the a-haloester is added dropwisc to the yellowish solution of the anion at the same temperature. The usual workup gives optically active product in high yield. 

These results show that chemical yields are generally higher than for most aldol-type additions of ester cnolates. mainly because of the chemical activation of the methylene group by the sulfoxide, which makes this reaction suitable for any aldehyde or ketone. High asymmetric induction is also generally observed. The aldol adducts obtained by addition to aldehydes have been transformed into optically active four- and five-membered lactones38. 

Since these adducts undergo reductive desulfuration with Raney nickel, optically active aryl methyl sulfoxides are versatile reagents for the conversion of imines to optically active amines. 

The ( + )-(/ )-methyl 4-tolyl sulfoxide anion from 1 reacts with nitrones 2 to afford optically active hydroxylamines with very high fi stereoselectivity5. The diastereomeric ratio of the products 3 a, b varies from d.r. 75 25-100 0, the highest being for R = t-Bu. The configuration of the diastereomers 3 a, b has not been determined. 

The stereogenic sulfur atom in sulfoxides is usually configurationally stable at room temperature thus, sulfoxides may be chiral based on this property alone1. In fact, there are many examples of optically active sulfoxides of both synthetic and natural origin. This chapter reviews the important methods for obtaining optically active sulfoxides, and discusses some reactions at sulfur which either leave the coordination number at three or increase it to four, generally with preservation of optical activity. It also describes briefly some recent studies on the conformational analysis and chiroptical properties of sulfoxides. 

II. METHODS FOR OBTAINING OPTICALLY ACTIVE SULFOXIDES A, Resolution of Sulfoxides... 

The numerous examples of optically active sulfoxides reflect their configurational stability. Optically active sulfoxides resist thermal racemization by pyramidal inversion, so... 

Sulfoxides were first prepared in optically active form in 1926 by the classical technique of diastereomeric salt formation followed by separation of the diastereomers by recrystallization16 17. Sulfoxides 1 and 2 were treated with d-camphorsulfonic acid and brucine, respectively, to form the diastereomeric salts. These salts were separated by crystallization after which the sulfoxides were regenerated from the diastereomers by treatment with acid or base, as appropriate. Since then numerous sulfoxides, especially those bearing carboxyl groups, have been resolved using this general technique. 

Preparation of the appropriate optically active sulfmate ester is initially required for reaction with a Grignard or other organometallic reagent. If the method is to produce homochiral sulfoxides, the precursor sulfmate ester must be optically pure. An exception to this statement occurs if the reaction yields a partially racemic sulfoxide which can be recrystallized to complete optical purity. 

The earliest attempts to obtain optically active sulfoxides by the oxidation of sulfides using oxidants such as chiral peracids did not fare well. The enantiomeric purities obtained were very low. Biological oxidants offered great improvement in a few cases, but not in others. Lately, some very encouraging progress has been made using chiral oxaziridines and peroxometal complexes as oxidants. Newer developments in the use of both chemical oxidants and biological oxidants are described below. 

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