First application of tunable alkyl or aryl sulfinamides to the stereoselective synthesis of a chiral amine: asymmetric synthesis of (R)-didesmethylsibutramine ((R)-DDMS) using (R)-triethylmethylsulfinamide ((R)-TESA).

A highly diastereoselective addition of i-BuLi to a triethylmethylsulfinamide derived aldimine was used as the key step in the first asymmetric synthesis of (R)-didesmethylsibutramine, a metabolite of sibutramine for the potential treatment of CNS disorders. [reaction: see text]