Catalysis of oxo transfer to prochiral sulfides by oxovanadium(v) compounds that model the active center of haloperoxidases.

The catalytic properties of a new class of chiral vanadium compounds--[(S,S,S)-VO(OMe)L1] (5), [(S,S)-VO(OMe)L2] (6), [(S,S)-VO(OMe)L3] (7), and [(R,R,R)-VO(OMe)L4] (8), as well as the system VO(OiPr)(3)/(R,R,R)-H(2)L4 [H(2)L1=(S,S)-bis(2-hydroxypropyl)-(S)-1-phenylethylamine, 1; H(2)L2=(S,S)-bis(2-hydroxypropyl)benzylamine, 2; H(2)L3=(S,S)-bis(2-hydroxypropyl)isopropylamine), 3; (H(2)L4)=(R,R)-bis(2-phenylethanol)-(R)-1-phenylethylamine, 4]--in the asymmetric oxidation of prochiral sulfides by organic hydroperoxides have been investigated. Particular attention has been paid to the factors that guide the discrimination between the two prochiral faces of the sulfides (methyl p-tolyl sulfide and benzyl phenyl sulfide), to steric implications stemming from the oxidant (cumyl hydroperoxide and tert-butyl hydroperoxide), and to the specific complex used. As an example, (S)-methyl p-tolyl sulfoxide was obtained in a 31 % enantiomeric excess by use of cumyl hydroperoxide as oxidant and complex 5 as the catalyst, after 150 min at 0 degrees C and with 100 % conversion of the sulfide. The crystal and molecular structures of 5 and 6 reveal the close relationship between these complexes and the active center of vanadate-dependent haloperoxidases: the vanadium is in a slightly distorted trigonal-bipyramidal environment with the nitrogen and the methoxy group in the axial positions, and the oxo and alkoxide functions of L2 and L3 are the plane. The presence and equilibrium situation of isomers of the catalysts in solution has been investigated by (51)V EXSY and variable-temperature multinuclear NMR spectroscopy. An intermediately formed peroxo (ROO(-)) vanadium complex was detected by (51)V NMR spectroscopy.