Radical Addition of Ethers to Chiral N-p-Toluenesulfinyl Aldimines

Significance

This paper reports a stereoselective addition of α-alkoxyalkyl radicals to chiral N-sulfinyl imines. The synthesis of chiral amines is a widely studied area, but the exploration of new ways to make these compounds remains an important task. While the reaction was found to proceed under thermal conditions, the reaction was extremely slow. The addition of BF₃×OEt₂ was found to speed up the reaction considerably in some cases. Good yields and reasonable enantio­selectivities were obtained for a few ether nucleophiles and aldimine electrophiles.