Stable sulfinic acids from the ene reaction of methyl-substituted allenes with sulfur dioxide

Use of sultines in the asymmetric synthesis of polypropionate antibiotics

At low temperature and in the presence of an acid catalyst, SO2 adds to 1,3-dienes equilibrating with the corresponding 3,6-dihydro-1,2-oxathiin-2-oxides (sultines). These compounds are unstable above -60 °C and equilibrate with the more stable 2,5-dihydrothiophene 1,1-dioxides (sulfolenes). The hetero-Diels-Alder additions of SO2 are suprafacial and follow the Alder endo rule. The sultines derived from 1-oxy-substituted and 1,3-dioxy-disubstituted 1,3-dienes cannot be observed at -100 °C but are believed to be formed faster than the corresponding sulfolenes. In the presence of acid catalysts, the 6-oxy-substituted sultines equilibrate with zwitterionic species that react with electron-rich alkenes such as enoxysilanes and allylsilanes, generating β,γ-unsaturated silyl sulfinates that can be desilylated and desulfinylated to generate polypropionate fragments containing up to three contiguous stereogenic centers and an (E)-alkene unit. Alternatively, the silyl sulfinates can be reacted with electrophiles to generate polyfunctional sulfones (one-pot, four-component synthesis of sulfones), or oxidized into sulfonyl chlorides and reacted with amines, then realizing a one-pot, four-component synthesis of polyfunctional sulfonamides. Using enantiomerically enriched dienes such as 1-[(R)- or 1-(S)-phenylethyloxy]-2-methyl-(E,E)-penta-1,3-dien-3-yl isobutyrate, derived from inexpensive (R)- or (S)-1-phenylethanol, enantiomerically enriched stereotriads are obtained in one-pot operations. The latter are ready for further chain elongation. This has permitted the development of expeditious total asymmetric syntheses of important natural products of biological interest such as the baconipyrones, rifamycin S, and apoptolidin A.

New organic chemistry of sulfur dioxide

Simple 1,3-dienes undergo highly stereoselective hetero-Diels-Alder additions with SO2 at low temperature giving sultines. These reactions that are faster than the more exothermic cheletropic additions of SO2-producing sulfolenes. This has led to the invention of a new C-C bond-forming reaction combining electron-rich dienes and alkenes with SO2. The reaction cascade has been exploited to develop combinatorial, one-pot, four-component syntheses of polyfunctional sulfones, sulfonamides, and sulfonic esters. It also allows us to generate, in one-pot operations, enantiomerically enriched polypropionate fragments containing up to three contiguous stereogenic centers and a (E)-alkene unit. These fragments can be used directly in further C-C bond-forming reactions, such as cross-aldol condensations, thus permitting the expeditious construction of complicated natural products of biological interest (e.g., Baconipyrones, Rifamycin S, Apoptolidinone) and analogues. New ene reactions of SO2 have also been discovered; they open new avenues to organic synthesis.