Copper- and Photoredox-Catalyzed Cascade to Trifluoromethylated Divinyl Sulfones

J Org Chem. 2023 May 19;88(10):6538-6547. doi: 10.1021/acs.joc.2c02422. Epub 2022 Dec 8.

Abstract

A Cu(I)-photoredox-catalyzed trifluoromethylchlorosulfonylation reaction of terminal alkynes under visible light conditions was developed, giving rise to trifluoromethyl-substituted vinylsulfonyl chlorides, which can subsequently be coupled to a second alkyne under photocatalytic conditions. The transformation proceeds with high regio- and stereoselectivity and can be applied to aliphatic and aromatic alkynes with various functional groups. Trifluoromethyl-substituted divinyl sulfones prepared by this protocol can be readily used as synthetically valuable intermediates as demonstrated with various postmodification examples.