Herein, we describe an electrochemical pathway for the
synthesis
of sulfilimines, sulfoximines, sulfinamidines, and sulfinimidate esters
from readily available low-valent sulfur compounds and primary amides
or their analogues. The combination of solvents and supporting electrolytes
together act both as an electrolyte as well as a mediator, leading
to efficient use of reactants. Both can be easily recovered, enabling
an atom-efficient and sustainable process. A broad scope of sulfilimines,
sulfinamidines, and sulfinimidate esters with N-EWGs
is accessed in up to excellent yields with broad functional group
tolerance. This fast synthesis can be easily scaled up to multigram
quantities with high robustness for fluctuation of current densities
of up to 3 orders of magnitude. The sulfilimines are converted into
the corresponding sulfoximines in an ex-cell process in high to excellent
yields using electro-generated peroxodicarbonate as a green oxidizer.
Thereby, preparatively valuable NH sulfoximines are accessible.
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