Recent Advances in the Synthesis of Sulfones

Sulfones are versatile intermediates in organic synthesis and important building blocks in the construction of biological active molecules or functional materials. This review provides a summary of recent developments in the synthesis of sulfones. 1 Introduction 2 Classical Methods and Variants 2.1 Oxidation of Sulfides 2.2 Aromatic Sulfonylation 2.3 Alkylation/Arylation of Sulfinates 2.4 Addition to Alkenes and Alkynes 2.5 Miscellaneous Methods 3 Metal-Catalyzed Coupling Reactions 4 Sulfone Synthesis by C–H Functionalization 5 Sulfur Dioxide Based Three-Component Approaches 6 Biological Synthesis of Sulfones 7 Conclusion