Highly efficient oxidation of sulfides with hydrogen peroxide catalyzed by [SeO4{WO(O-2)(2)}(2)](2-)

By using the selenium-containing dinuclear peroxotungstate at 0.005-0.1 mol%, various kinds of sulfides could be converted into the corresponding sulfoxides or sulfones in excellent yields with one or two equivalents of H2O2 with respect to the sulfide, respectively.