Stereoinversion of Unactivated Alcohols by Tethered Sulfonamides
Paul T Marcyk1, Latisha R Jefferies1, Deyaa I AbuSalim1,2
1Department of Chemistry, Indiana University, 800 East Kirkwood Avenue, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA.
Abstract:
The direct, catalytic substitution of unactivated alcohols remains an undeveloped area of organic synthesis. Moreover, catalytic activation of this difficult electrophile with predictable stereo-outcomes presents an even more formidable challenge. Described herein is a simple iron-based catalyst system which provides the mild, direct conversion of secondary and tertiary alcohols to sulfonamides. Starting from enantioenriched alcohols, the intramolecular variant proceeds with stereoinversion to produce enantioenriched 2- and 2,2-subsituted pyrrolidines and indolines, without prior derivatization of the alcohol or solvolytic conditions.
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