Synthesis of chiral sulfones via nickel-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation

Abstract

An asymmetric hydrogenation of α,β-unsaturated sulfones was achieved based on the cheap transition metal nickel catalytic system. A series of chiral 3-alkyl-3-aryl sulfones and 3,3-diaryl sulfones were obtained in high yields (91–98%) with excellent enantioselectivities (up to 99.9% ee). The synthesis of chiral sulfones on a gram scale was also achieved in this protocol.