Mild stereoselective formation of tri- and tetrasubstituted olefins by regioselective ring opening of 1,1-disubstituted vinyl oxiranes with dialkyl dithiophosphates

Presented in this Letter is a mild new method to stereoselectively ring open 1,1-disubstituted vinyl oxiranes using dialkyl dithiophosphate nucleophiles. This new reaction proceeds in toluene at room temperature to afford tri- and tetrasubstituted allylic alcohols with high Z-selectivity. The syn relationship between the alcohol and the newly incorporated dithiophosphate moiety presented an opportunity to evaluate the anionic hopping properties of the ring opening product. Treatment of the ring opening product with base results in a facile phosphate hopping followed by a selective thiolate 3-exo-trig instead of a 5-exo-tet cyclization.