Sulfur-containing organic molecules play vital roles in natural products, pharmaceuticals, ligands, catalysts, and materials science. The construction of C–S bonds is a key strategy for synthesizing such compounds, including sulfides, sulfoxides, and sulfones. Although sulfur has long been utilized in chemical synthesis, sulfonyl hydrazides have only recently emerged as efficient sulfur sources. Under suitable conditions-thermal, basic, radical, oxidative, or transition metal-catalyzed-the hydrazinyl group of sulfonyl hydrazides can be readily removed, enabling the sulfonyl unit to couple with diverse substrates. This versatility allows the synthesis of sulfones, sulfonamides, sulfonyl halides, thiosulfonates, and selenosulfonates through C–S, N–S, X–S, S–S, and Se–S bond formations. One limitation historically hindering the development of C–S coupling strategies is the unpleasant odor of sulfur-containing intermediates, which may explain the relatively lower attention compared to other C–heteroatom bond-forming reactions. Nevertheless, the pursuit of efficient and practical sulfur sources continues, driven by the broad utility of organosulfur compounds. Recent advances have provided innovative, reliable methodologies for C–S bond formation, significantly expanding the synthetic toolbox. This review summarizes and discusses the progress in C–S bond construction employing sulfonyl hydrazides as versatile sulfur donors.
Gupta et al. (Thu,) studied this question.