Highly efficient and chemoselective reduction of sulfoxides using the system silane/oxo-rhenium complexes

This work reports a novel method for the reduction of sulfoxides with silanes catalyzed by high valent oxo-rhenium(V) and (VII) complexes. The catalytic system PhSiH3/ReIO2(PPh3)2 (1 mol %) proved to be highly efficient for the reduction of a wide range of sulfoxides in excellent yields under mild conditions. This novel methodology is also highly chemoselective, tolerating several functional groups such as –CHO, –CO2R, –Cl, –NO2, and double or triple bonds.