Mild and Efficient Deoxygenation of Sulfoxides to Sulfides with Silica Iodide as new Heterogeneous Reagent

Reduction of sulfoxides to the corresponding sulfides is a main reaction that is important in both organic synthesis and biological chemistry [1]. Until now,a lot of methods have been developed for the deoxygenation of sulfoxides. In recent years, the use of reagents and catalysts supported on solid supports has received much attention. Silica gel is one of the most extensively used surface material supports for different chemical transformations in organic synthesis [2]. For example, Silica boromide and silica chloride were synthesised and used in reductionof sulfoxides to their sulfids[3][4]. We prepared a new heterogeneous reagent, SiO2- I, as simple, mild and effective reagent for reduced sulfoxides and converted corresponding sulfides in CCl4 at room temperature in highyeild. A wide range of diaryl, aryl-alkyl, and dialkylsulfoxidesreducedvery smoothly without any other products. EDX, FT-IR and qualitatively analysis confirmed the presence ofiodide in the heterogeneous reagent SiO2-I.