Sulfur Mediated Allylic C-H Alkylation of Tri- and Disubstituted Olefins

A novel transition-metal-free, sulfur mediated allylic C-H alkylation reaction through a one-pot procedure involving an ene-like step between simple olefins and activated sulfoxides to generate allylic sulfonium intermediates, and a subsequent [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement step under basic conditions to give allylic C-H alkylation products, has been developed. This method is applicable to tri- and disubstituted olefin substrates in both inter- and intramolecular fashions.