Copper-Catalyzed Decarboxylative Sulfonylation of α,β-Unsaturated Carboxylic Acids

Copper-catalyzed, ligand-promoted decarboxylative coupling of readily available α,β-unsaturated acids with sodium aryl sulfinates is presented. This method provides a new avenue for the synthesis of vinyl sulfones via a decarboxylative radical coupling strategy by employing a catalytic amount of Cu(ClO4)2·6H2O, TBHP in decane as an oxidant, and 1,10-phenanthroline as a ligand. The salient feature of this method is that it furnishes exclusively the (E)-isomer.