Asymmetric oxidation of sulfides catalyzed by chiral (salen)Mn(III) complexes with a pyrrolidine backbone

Catalytic properties of a series of chiral (pyrrolidine salen)Mn(III) complexes for asymmetric oxidation of aryl methyl sulfides were evaluated. Moderate activity, good chemical selectivity and low enantioselectivity were attained with iodosylbenzene as a terminal oxidant. Enantioselectivity of sulfide oxidation was affected slightly by polar solvent and the sulfoxidation carried out in THF for thioanisole and in CH3CO2Et for electron-deficient sulfides gave better enatioselctivities. The addition of the donor ligand PPNO (4-phenylpyridine N-oxide) or MNO (trimethylamine N-oxide) only has a minor positive effect on the enantioselectivity. Also explored was the steric effect of the N-aza-substituent in the backbone of (pyrrolidine salen)Mn(III) complexes on the enantioselectivity of sulfide oxidation. The sulfides' access pathway is discussed based on the catalytic results. Copyright (c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.