The convenient and scalable preparative approach for the two-step α-methylation of ketones is described. The optimized protocols for regioselective preparation of enaminones with further diastereoselective and functional groups tolerant hydrogenation to α-methylketones are developed. The scope and limitations of the proposed methodology are discussed. The advantages compared to known procedures are demonstrated. The unexpected role of acetone in the hydrogenation is suggested. The evaluation of the method for both early building block synthesis and late-stage CH-functionalization is shown. The elaborate procedures’ preparability and scalability are demonstrated by the synthesis of several α-methyl ketones up to 100 g amount.

A simple and cost-effective one-pot parallel synthesis approach to sulfides, sulfoxides, and sulfones from thiourea was elaborated. The method combines two procedures optimized to the parallel synthesis conditions: alkylation of thiourea with alkyl chlorides and mono or full oxidation of in situ generated sulfides with H2O2 or H2O2-(NH4)2MoO4. The experimental set up required commonly used lab equipment: conventional oven and ultrasonic bath; the work up includes filtration or extraction with chloroform. The method was evaluated on an 81 member library of drug-like sulfides, sulfoxides, and sulfones yielding the compounds on a 30-300 mg scale. A small-scale synthesis of 2-(benzhydrylsulfinyl)acetamide (modafinil) utilizing our approach resulted in similar efficiency to the published procedures.

Synthetic approaches toward multigram preparation of spirocyclic α,α-disubstituted pyrrolidines from readily available starting materials are discussed. It was shown that although a number of synthetic methodologies have been known to date, many of the title compounds remain hardly accessible. The most appropriate literature method (which relied on reaction of imines and allyl magnesium halide, followed by bromocyclization) was identified and optimized. It was found that the method is most fruitful for simple non-functionalized substrates. Two novel approaches based on the Sakurai or Petasis reactions of cyclic ketones, followed by hydroboration–oxidation at the allyl moiety thus introduced, were elaborated. The latter method had the largest scope and was beneficial for the substrates containing organosulfur or protected amino functions. For the synthesis of 4-azaspiro[2.4]heptane, an alternative synthetic scheme commencing from tert -butyl cyclopropanecarboxylate (instead of the corresponding ketone) was developed. It was shown that the whole set of the methodologies developed can be used for the synthesis of various spirocyclic α,α-disubstituted pyrrolidines—advanced building blocks of potential importance to medicinal and agrochemistry—at up to a 100 g scale.