New Carbanion Rearrangement of Sulfur Compounds and Its Application

New Carbanion Rearrangement of Sulfur Compounds and Its Application Abstract This thesis reports the investigation of an unusual reversal in the metalation selectivity of alkyl aryl sulfones and sulfoxides and its application. Such compounds undergo initial directed ortho-metalation at −78 řC despite having an acidic α-hydrogen atom and the resulting aryllithiums rearrange subsequently completely to the initially expected α-sulfonyllithiums on warming. The scope and the limitations for this process were identified. Both carbanion types of sulfones were applied in reactions with various electrophiles. α-Lithiated sulfones generated upon the transmetalation process were used in Julia olefinations. A mechanistic study of the course of the transmetalation reaction is presented. The kinetics of the transmetalation were determined. Investigations concerning the concentration dependence, proton transfer equilibria between the different ortho-sulfonyllithium intermediates and crossover experiments provided the evidence that a concerted intermolecular pathway prevails. On this basis a new integrated synthetic approach to naturally occurring iridoids was developed. It is based on a tandem alkoxycarbonylation/oxidative radical cyclization of the olefins synthesized by the Julia reaction after the investigated...