Au(I)/Au(III)-Catalyzed Sulfonylation of Aryl Iodides for the Synthesis of Various Functionalized Aryl Sulfones.

A gold-catalyzed sulfonylation reaction of aryl iodides with different sodium sulfinates facilitated by the ligand-enabled Au(I)/Au(III) redox catalysis was developed. In the reaction of gold-catalyzed C-S coupling, a variety of functionalized sodium sulfinates, such as CF3, CHF2, CH3, and alkyl groups, can react smoothly with aryl iodides to directly construct diversely functionalized aryl sulfones. This gold-catalyzed sulfonylation offers a complementary method for synthesizing functionalized aryl sulfones with electron-donating groups.