NHC-Catalyzed Deamination of Primary Sulfonamides: A Platform for Late-Stage Functionalization

Herein we describe the development and application of a method for the mild, late-stage conversion of primary sulfonamides to several other other functional groups. These reactions occur via initial reductive deamination of sulfonamides to sulfinates via an NHC-catalyzed reaction of transiently formed N-sulfonylimines. The method described here is tolerant of nearly all common functional groups, as exemplified by the late-stage derivatization of several complex pharmaceutical compounds. On the basis of the prevalence of sulfonamide-containing drugs and building blocks, we have developed a method to enable sulfonamides to be applied as versatile synthetic handles, for synthetic chemsitry.