Efficient synthesis of α-(fluoro/chloro/methoxy)disulfonylmethane derivatives as tunable substituted methyl synthons via a new C–S bond forming strategy

A Unified Strategy for Arylsulfur(VI) Fluorides from Aryl Halides: Access to Ar-SOF3 Compounds

A convenient protocol to selectively access various arylsulfur(VI) fluorides from commercially available aryl halides in a divergent fashion is presented. Firstly, a novel sulfenylation reaction with the electrophilic N-(chlorothio)phthalimide (Cl-S-Phth) and arylzinc reagents afforded the corresponding Ar-S-Phth compounds. Subsequently, the S(II) atom was selectively oxidized to distinct fluorinated sulfur(VI) compounds under mild conditions. Slight modifications on the oxidation protocol permit the chemoselective installation of 1, 3, or 4 fluorine atoms at the S(VI) center, affording the corresponding Ar-SO2 F, Ar-SOF3 , and Ar-SF4 Cl. Of notice, this strategy enables the effective introduction of the rare and underexplored -SOF3 moiety into various (hetero)aryl groups. Reactivity studies demonstrate that such elusive Ar-SOF3 can be utilized as a linchpin for the synthesis of highly coveted aryl sulfonimidoyl fluorides (Ar-SO(NR)F).

Gas-phase fluorine migration reactions in the radical cations of pentafluorosulfanylbenzene (Aryl-SF₅) and benzenesulfonyl fluoride (Aryl-SO₂F) derivatives and in the 2,5-xylylfluoroiodonium ion

The gas-phase reactions of Aryl-SF5(·+) and Aryl-SO2F(·+) have been studied with the electron ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Such reactions involve F-atom migration from the S-atom to the aryl group affording the product ion Aryl-F(·+) by subsequent expulsion of SF4 or SO2, respectively. Especially, the 4-pentafluorosulfanylphenyl cation 4-SF5C6H4(+) (m/z 203) from 4-NO2C6H4SF5(·+) by loss of ·NO2 could occur multiple F-atom migration reactions to the product ion C6H4F3(+) (m/z 133) by loss of SF2 in the MS/MS process. The gas-phase reactions of 2,5-xylylfluoroiodonium (pXyl-I(+)F, m/z 251) have also been studied using the electrospray tandem mass spectrometry, which involve a similar F-atom migration process from the I-atom to the aryl group giving the radical cation of 2-fluoro-p-xylene (or its isomer 4-fluoro-m-xylene, m/z 124) by reductive elimination of an iodine atom. All these gas-phase F-atom migration reactions from the heteroatom to the aryl group led to the aryl-F coupling product ions with a new formed C(Aryl)-F bond. Density functional theory calculations were performed to shed light on the mechanisms of these reactions.