Stereodivergent synthesis of 1,4-dicarbonyls by traceless charge–accelerated sulfonium rearrangement

Four varieties of carbonyl sandwich Compounds with adjacent carbons sandwiched between two carbonyl (C=O) centers turn up frequently in organic chemistry. When these central carbons each have a substituent, there are four possible mutual geometries, all with potentially distinct biochemical properties. Kaldre et al. present a single method to access each stereoisomer individually. The outcome depends on the straightforwardly tunable configuration of a sulfoxide group in a precursor, which guides a rearrangement. The versatility of the method should facilitate selective access to 1,4-dicarbonyl motifs in pharmaceutical research. Science , this issue p. 664