Development of New Organic Synthesis Methods Based on Physico-Chemical Properties of Sulfur Dioxide

The Doctoral Thesis has been prepared as a collection of thematically related scientific publications comprising five publications in the SCI journals, one patent of the Republic of Latvia, and one application for patent of the Republic of Latvia. We have carried out fundamental research on the applications of SO₂ as a solvent and reagent in organic synthesis. We have developed several novel synthetic methods that represent the use of liquid SO₂ as a solvent for chemical transformations that proceed via carbenium ion intermediates: a) hydration of aryl acetylenes; b) hydrohalogenation of aryl acetylenes; c) ring opening of methylenecyclopropanes with halides; d) glycosylation with glycosyl fluorides. By employing DABSO as an SO­₂ surrogate, we have also discovered the catalytic activity of Ru(II) complexes towards sulfonylative cross‑coupling reaction. This finding has been applied for the synthesis of sulfonyl‑derived compounds.