Thermoinduced Radical Cyclization for the Synthesis of Sultines

Org Lett. 2024 Jan 12;26(1):406-410. doi: 10.1021/acs.orglett.3c04099. Epub 2023 Dec 20.

Abstract

A thermoinduced radical homolytic substitution cyclization of alkenyl tethered sulfinate esters was displayed under mild metal-free conditions, enabling the functionalization of alkenes and leading to structurally diverse value-added sultine products. The process utilizes readily available substrates using inexpensive 5% benzoyl peroxide (BPO) as an initiator to generate functionalized sultines with broad functional group tolerance in medium to excellent yields in a highly atom-economical manner. In addition, the obtained sultines could be further readily functionalized toward valuable sultone frameworks in one pot. A thermo-catalytic radical chain process was proposed based on mechanistic studies.