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General procedure: To a solution of the nitrile / sulfone (1.2 mmol) in THF (5 ml) at -78 oC (under an N2atmosphere) was added LiHMDS (1.2 mL of 1 M in THF, 1.2 mmol) dropwise and thereaction mixture was stirred at this temperature for 5 minutes. The heterocycle (1 mmol,1 eq.) was added at while the reaction mixture was at -78oC, the cooling bath wasremoved and the reaction mixture was stirred until the reaction was judged complete byLCMS analysis (generally 1 h). Solid KMnO4 (316 mg, 2 mmol, 2 eq.) and acetonitrile(1 ml) were added and the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature until thereaction was judged complete by LCMS analysis (generally 4-6 h). The reaction mixturewas poured into saturated aqueous NaHCO3 and the layers separated. The aqueous layerwas then extracted with EtOAc (3x). All organics were combined, washed with water,brine, dried (Na2SO4) and evaporated to dryness. Purification by silica gel columnchromatography (12 g Isco silica cartridge) using hexanes and EtOAc gave the desiredproducts.