Rhodium(III)-catalyzed selective ortho-olefinations of N-acyl and N-aroyl sulfoximines by C-H bond activation.

Two new rhodium-catalyzed oxidative couplings between sulfoximine derivatives and alkenes by regioselective CH activation, affording ortho-olefinated (Heck-type) products, are reported. A synthetic application of the ortho-alkenylated products into the corresponding cyclic derivatives has been demonstrated, and a mechanistic rational for the rhodium catalysis is presented.