Application of Transition Metals in Sulfoxidation Reactions

Sulfoxides are key scaffolds in the synthesis of pharmaceutically active molecules. A large number of sulfoxides are indispensable ingredients in the structure of most antibiotics, biological and natural products such as Modafinil, Adrafinil, CRL-40,941 or fladrafinil, Fipronil, Oxydemetonmethyl, Omeprazole, Pantoprazole, Lansoprazole and Rabeprazole. The oxidation of sulfides is the most common and efficient strategy for the preparation of sulfoxides. Recently, many protocols based on using transition metals have been reported for the oxidation of sulfides to the sulfoxides. In this paper, we summarized a nice category of the reported protocols in the literature for the oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides.