β-(Trifluoromethyl)vinyl Sulfonium Salts: Preparation and Reactions with Active Methylene and Methenyl Compounds

Two trifluoromethyl-substituted building blocks β-(trifluoromethyl)vinyl sulfonium salts 1 and 2 were developed. Reactions of β-(trifluoromethyl)vinyl sulfonium salt 1 with active methylene compounds containing electron-withdrawing groups using DBU as the base in DMSO occurred to give trifluoromethyl-substituted cyclopropane derivatives 7 as the major products. In contrast, reactions of β-(trifluoromethyl)vinyl sulfonium salt 2 with active methylene compounds occurred with the migration of one of the electron-withdrawing groups to give the products 8 as the major products when NaH was used as the base in DMSO. Moreover, when NaH was used as base in THF/CH2Cl2 at −78 °C, reaction of β-(trifluoromethyl)vinyl sulfonium salt 1 gave trifluoromethyl-substituted 2,3-dihydrofuran derivatives 9 as the major products. A working mechanism was proposed to explain the different behaviors of the β-(trifluoromethyl)vinyl sulfonium salts 1 or 2 with active methylene compounds under these different conditions.