S,C-Sulfonium Ylides from Thiophenes: Potential Carbene Precursors

摘要

Carbenes remain important and intriguing reactive intermediates in organic chemistry despite years of study for many reasons, among them the access they provide to unusual product compounds, their differing chemistry depending on spin state, and their mechanistic complexity. Photochemical precursors to carbenes, such as diazo compounds and diazirines, are often favored, because they can yield carbenes by photolysis at low temperatures and can be used for laser flash photolysis experiments. However, because these nitrogenous precursors have been shown to undergo reactions in their excited states that mimic chemistry expected from the carbene itself, there is demand for alternative practical precursors. In this Communication, we report the use of S,C-sulfonium ylides 1-4 as photochemical carbene precursors, as illustrated in Scheme 1 for compound 4.