Simple, economical and environmentally friendly sulfone synthesis

Chemoselective sulfur oxidation of functionalized sulfides was developed using catalytic amounts of MnSO4·H2O (1 mol%) and 30% H2O2 in the presence of a buffer solution of NaHCO3. Aromatic and aliphatic sulfides were oxidized to sulfones in quantitative yields in 15 min. Different functional groups including double bonds, alcohols, ethers of THP and TBDMS groups were tolerated under these mild and green reaction conditions.