Asymmetric S-Arylation of Sulfenamides to Access Axially Chiral Sulfilimines Enabled by Anionic Stereogenic-at-Cobalt(III) Complexes

An efficient enantioselective coupling reaction between sulfenamides and cyclic diaryliodonium salts is established via adaptive Cu/anionic stereogenic-at-Co(III) complex combined catalysis, precisely synthesizing a broad range of axially chiral sulfilimines with excellent enantioselectivities, diastereoselectivities, regioselectivities, and chemoselectivities (67 examples under same conditions, up to 98 % ee). The following thermodynamically controlled pyramidal inversion enables efficient stereodivegent synthesis of all four stereoisomers. Mechanistic studies suggest that anionic stereogenic-at-cobalt(III) complexes serve as counteranions of diaryliodonium and anionic ligand of Cu(I) catalyst simultaneously, which could be regarded as an explanation for outstanding selectivities.