Expanding the Scope of Sulfur-Centered Arbuzov Rearrangement in Diethyl/Di-<i>n</i>-propyl Sulfite for the Synthesis of Mixed-Ligand Di-<i>n</i>-butyltin Alkanesulfonates^†

A one-pot reaction between di-n-butyltin oxide and diethyl/di-n-propyl sulfite in the presence of an equimolar amount of alkyl iodide proceeds via sulfur-centered Arbuzov rearrangement to afford the corresponding di-n-butyltin (alkoxy)alkanesulfonates n-Bu2Sn(OR‘)OS(O)2R [R = R‘ = Et (1), n-Pr (2); R = Me, R‘ = Et (3), n-Pr (4)]. The compounds 1 and 3 react with methylphosphonic acid under mild conditions to give [n-Bu2Sn(OS(O)2R)OP(O)(OH)Me]n [R = Et (5), Me (6), respectively].