One-Pot, Three-Component Sulfonimidamide Synthesis Exploiting the Sulfinylamine Reagent N-Sulfinyltritylamine, TrNSO

Sulfonimidamides are increasingly important molecules in medicinal chemistry and agrochemistry, but their preparation requires lengthy synthetic sequences, which has likely limited their use. We describe a one-pot de novo synthesis of sulfonimidamides from widely available organometallic reagents and amines. This convenient and efficient process uses a stable sulfinylamine reagent, N-sulfinyltritylamine (TrNSO), available in one step on 10 gram scale, as a linchpin. In contrast to classical approaches starting from thiols or their derivatives, our TrNSO-based approach facilitates the rapid assembly of the three reaction components into a variety of differentially substituted sulfonimidamides containing medicinally relevant moieties, including pyridines and indoles. Analogues of the sulfonamide-containing COX-2 inhibitor Celecoxib were prepared and evaluated.