Cinchona Alkaloid/Sulfinyl Chloride Combinations: Enantioselective Sulfinylating Agents of Alcohols

We report a novel approach to asymmetric sulfinylation reactions based on a cinchona alkaloid/sulfinyl chloride combination that acts as the first asymmetric sulfinylating agents of achiral alcohols. Both enantiomers of arenesulfinates are obtained with up to 99% ee. The significantly high enantioselectivity observed in this case could be explained by dynamic kinetic resolution.