Occurrence of Ligand Coupling in the Reactions of Various Sulfoxides With Grignard Reagents

Ligand coupling reactions take place not only between benzyl and 2-pyridyl groups and two 2-pyridyl groups in the treatment of benzyl, alkyl and aryl 2-pyridyl sulfoxides with Grignard reagents, but also between such groups as p-benzenesulfonylphenyl, 4-pyridyl, 2-quinolyl and 2-pyrimidyl, and the benzyl group. There are cases in which ligand exchange precedes ligand coupling, especially with 2-heteroaryl groups. In addition, even some alkyl groups were found to couple with the 2-pyridyl group. The ease of coupling seems to be associated with the electronegativity of the coupling carbon atom of the ligand, when one compares the 13C NMR chemical shifts.