Recent advances for the synthesis of chiral sulfones with the sulfone moiety directly connected to the chiral center

Abstract

Chiral sulfones, especially those compounds whose sulfone groups are directly connected to the chiral centers, are privileged building blocks in many natural products and bioactive compounds. Thus, the development of novel and efficient methods for the synthesis of these chiral sulfones becomes more important. This review focuses on the recent development of the strategies for the asymmetric synthesis of these compounds, including (1) nucleophilic substitution, (2) hydrosulfonation, (3) cross-coupling reaction, (4) dynamic kinetic resolution, (5) hydrogenation, (6) β-elimination, (7) [3 + 2] cycloaddition, (8) conjugate addition, (9) oxidation of chiral thioethers, and (10) other reactions. The typical reactions, the substrate scope, the reaction mechanism, and their applications in the synthesis of bioactive compounds will be discussed. Given the rapidly increasing interest in this topic, we believe that this review will present a timely and comprehensive understanding of the recent progress in the synthesis of chiral sulfones with sulfone moieties directly connected to the stereocenters.