Asymmetric epoxy cyclohexenyl sulfones: readily accessible progenitors of stereo defined six-carbon arrays

[formula: see text] Enantiopure epoxy vinyl sulfones serve as highly effective substrates for a variety of stereo- and regiospecific oxidation and nucleophilic functionalization reactions. These materials can be easily transformed to cyclic and acyclic six-carbon segments. Nucleophilic epoxidation of 3a,b followed by palladium[0] catalysis enables access to differentially protected arene diols 21 and 22.