Vinyl sulfones: synthetic preparations and medicinal chemistry applications.

Vinyl sulfones have long been known for their synthetic utility in organic chemistry, easily participating in 1,4-addition reactions and cycloaddition reactions. This functional group has also recently been shown to potently inhibit a variety of enzymatic processes providing unique properties for drug design and medicinal chemistry. This review includes traditional methods used for the synthesis of vinyl sulfones, but focuses mainly on newer reactions applied to vinyl sulfones, including olefin metathesis, conjugate reduction, asymmetric dihydroxylation (AD), and the use of vinyl sulfones to arrive at highly functionalized targets, all illustrating the rich and versatile chemistry this group can efficiently perform. In addition, geminal disulfones are discussed with respect to their formation, reactions, and medicinal applications of this underutilized functional group. 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.