The study presents a method for the generation of vinyl carbenoids from sulfoxonium ylides and FeBr2. The novel method was applied in the synthesis of diverse heterocycles such as indolizines, pyrroles, 3‐pyrrolin‐2‐ones, and furans. A reaction pathway involving iron carbenoids was proposed based on a series of control experiments and DFT calculations. The computational work revealed that an experimentally observed intermediate in fact is an off-cycle species.
Link to the article:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/anie.201810451