Circumventing Mukaiyama oxidation: selective S–O bond formation via sulfenamide–alcohol coupling

• Guoling Huang,
• Huarui Zhu,
• Shuting Zhou,
• Wanlin Zheng,
• Fangpeng Liang,
• Zhibo Zhao,
• Yifei Chen and
• Xunbo Lu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2026, 22, 158–166, doi:10.3762/bjoc.22.9

• /bjoc.22.9 Abstract A selective and efficient method for the synthesis of sulfinimidate esters via an NBS-promoted oxidative coupling of sulfenamides with alcohols has been developed. This operationally simple, metal-free protocol uses inexpensive and readily available reagents, operates under mild

• RU58841. Moreover, chiral alcohols such as ʟ-menthol are well tolerated, affording diastereomeric sulfinimidate esters that can undergo stereospecific Grignard substitutions to furnish enantioenriched sulfilimines with up to 93% ee. These results demonstrate the potential of sulfinimidate esters as

• versatile intermediates for enantioselective S–C bond formation under mild and metal-free conditions. Keywords: asymmetric synthesis; late-stage functionalization; selective oxidation; sulfenamides; sulfinimidate esters; Introduction Sulfur is a privileged heteroatom in organic chemistry, celebrated for