Palladium-Catalyzed α-Arylation of Methyl Sulfonamides with Aryl Chlorides

A palladium-catalyzed -arylation of sulfonamides with aryl chlorides is presented. A Buchwald-type pre-catalyst formed with Kwong's indole-based ligand enabled this transformation to be compatible with a large variety of methyl sulfonamides and aryl chlorides in good to excellent yields. Importantly, under the optimized reaction conditions, only mono-arylated products were observed. This method has been applied to the efficient synthesis of sumatriptan, which is used to treat migraines.