Patent ID: 8367871

Claim:
A process for producing an optically active sulfoxide compound comprising: carrying out asymmetric oxidation, using an oxidizing agent, of a sulfide compound expressed by Formula (3): where R 6 and R 7 are different from each other and each of R 6 and R 7 is a C 6-12 aryl group that is not substituted or is substituted with a halogen atom, a C 1-4 alkyl group, a C 1-4 alkoxy group, a C 2-5 alkylcarbonyloxy group, a C 2-5 alkoxylcarbonyl group, a nitro group, or a cyano group; a C 6-12 arylmethyl group that is not substituted or is substituted with a halogen atom, a C 1-4 alkyl group, a C 1-4 alkoxy group, a C 2-5 alkylcarbonyloxy group, a C 2-5 alkoxylcarbonyl group, a nitro group, or a cyano group; a C 1-6 alkyl group that is not substituted or is substituted with a halogen atom, a nitro group, a hydroxyl group, or a cyano group; and when R 6 is a C 6-12 aryl group in which the ortho-position of the C 6-12 aryl group is substituted with a C 1-4 alkyl group or a C 1-4 alkoxy group, R 7 is optionally a C 2-4 bivalent group that forms a fused ring together with a sulfur atom binding to R 6 , in the presence of an optically active metal complex expressed by Formula (1), Formula (1′), Formula (2), or Formula (2′): in Formula (1), Formula (1′), Formula (2), and Formula (2′), R 1 is a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a C 1-4 alkyl group, a C 1-4 alkoxy group, a C 6-12 aryloxy group, or a C 6-22 aryl group that is not substituted or is substituted with: a C 1-4 alkyl group, which is not substituted or is arbitrarily substituted with a halogen atom; or a C 1-4 alkoxy group, which is not substituted is not substituted with a C 6-12 aryl group, and when the C 6-22 aryl group forms an axial asymmetry with an aromatic ring in Formula (2) and Formula (2′), the axial asymmetry is optionally either optically active or optically inactive; R 2 is a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a C 1-4 alkyl group, a C 1-4 alkoxy group, a C 6-12 aryloxy group, or a C 6-12 aryl group; R 3 is a C 1-4 alkyl group, a C 6-18 aryl group, or a C 3-5 bivalent group in which two R 3 s together form a ring; R 4 is a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a C 1-4 alkyl group, a C 1-4 alkoxy group, a nitro group, or a cyan group independently; R 5 is a hydrogen atom or a C 1-4 alkyl group; M is an iron atom; and X means an anion that is capable of forming an ion pair with M, wherein the optically active sulfoxide compound is expressed by Formula (4): where R 6 and R 7 have the same meaning as defined in Formula (3) and an absolute configuration of a sulfur atom indicated with an asterisk (*) is R or S.