Co-reporter:Yasushi Imada, Takahiro Kitagawa, Han-Kun Wang, Naruyoshi Komiya, Takeshi Naota
Tetrahedron Letters 2013 Volume 54(Issue 7) pp:621-624
Publication Date(Web):13 February 2013
DOI:10.1016/j.tetlet.2012.11.133
An aerobic, organocatalytic, and aqueous method for the oxidation of sulfides is described. Synthetic flavin, 5-ethyl-3,7,8,10-tetramethylisoalloxazinium perchlorate, acts as an efficient catalyst for the oxidation of sulfides in water under an oxygen atmosphere (1 atm) with the assistance of ascorbic acid as a reductant. This is an inexpensive, convenient, and environmentally benign method for the selective oxidative transformation of sulfides into sulfoxides.