Organocatalytic Enantioselective Selenosulfonylation of a C-C Double Bond To Form Two Stereogenic Centers in an Aqueous Medium.

Organocatalytic selenosulfonylation of the C-C double bond of α,β-unsaturated ketones to construct two contiguous stereogenic centers in an aqueous medium was described. A series of α-selenyl and β-sulfonyl ketones with various functional groups were synthesized in good yields and enantioselectivities with saturated NaCl solution as the solvent. In addition, this protocol had been successfully scaled up to a decagram scale via a simple workup procedure.