Oxidation of sulfides with urea-hydrogen peroxide catalyzed by iron-salen complexes

The oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides with hydrogen peroxide in good yield and high selectivity has been catalyzed very effectively by a series of Schiff base salen-type iron complexes in a monophasic medium (CH2Cl2/CH3OH) at ambient temperature. The results of the present study show that the reaction rate strongly depends on both catalyst steric effects and steric and electronic properties of sulfides. In the system, the electronic spectral studies are applied to explain the formation of a reactive (salen) Fe=O intermediate. [GRAPHICS] .