Rapid Synthesis of β‑Chiral Sulfones by Ni-Organophotocatalyzed Enantioselective Sulfonylalkenylation of Alkenes

β-Chiral sulfones are substructures widespread
in drug molecules
and bioactive targets and serve as important chiral synthons in organic
synthesis yet are challenging to access. Herein, a three-component
strategy enabled by visible-light- and Ni-catalyzed sulfonylalkenylation
of styrenes for the synthesis of enantioenriched β-chiral sulfones
has been developed. This dual-catalysis strategy allows for one-step
skeletal assembly along with the control of enantioselectivity in
the presence of a chiral ligand, providing an efficient and straightforward
access to enantioenriched β-alkenyl sulfones from easily available
and simple starting materials. Mechanistic investigations reveal that
the reaction undergoes a chemoselective radical addition over two
alkenes followed by a Ni-intercepted asymmetric Csp3–Csp2 coupling with alkenyl halides.