Wiley, Angewandte Chemie, 5(136), 2023
Wiley, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 5(63), 2023
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AbstractSulfoxides are widely used in the pharmaceutical industry and as ligands in asymmetric catalysis. However, the efficient asymmetric synthesis of this structural motif remains limited. In this study, we disclosed a Ni‐catalyzed enantioconvergent reaction that utilizes both racemic allenyl carbonates and β‐sulfinyl esters. Our method employs cheap and more sustainable Ni(II) as a precatalyst and successfully overcomes the challenging poisoning effect and instability of sulfenate generated in situ. This enables the synthesis of a series of dienyl sulfoxides with enantioselectivity of up to 98 % ee. The product exhibits tremendous potential in various applications, including diastereoselective Diels–Alder reactions, coordination with transition metals, and incorporation into medicinal compounds, among others. Using a combination of experimental and computational methods, we have uncovered an interesting associated outersphere mechanism that contrasts with conventional mechanisms commonly observed in asymmetric transition metal catalysis.