General synthetic strategies towards N-alkyl sulfoximine building blocks for medicinal chemistry and the use of dimethylsulfoximine as a versatile precursor

The sulfoximine group has great potential as a substituent in drug discovery, as evidenced by two new clinical candidates, and can be viewed as an isosteric alternative to the commonly used sulfone. Our aim was to improve the accessibility of this group by synthesising a diverse range of S-alkyl and N-alkyl sulfoximine building blocks with procedures that are applicable on a practical scale (>10 g). In particular, synthesis of the less well exploited N-alkyl sulfoximines and the use of dimethylsulfoximine as a versatile, commercially available precursor is discussed. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.