Cyanuric chloride as promoter for the oxidation of sulfides and deoxygenation of sulfoxides

This Letter discusses the use of cyanuric chloride as an efficient promoter for the chemoselective oxidation of sulfides to the corresponding sulfones in the presence of H2O2 as the terminal oxidant. Sulfoxides were also found to undergo deoxygenation to sulfides with cyanuric chloride and potassium iodide system. The reaction is broad in scope and easy to perform. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.