Copper-catalyzed aerobic oxidation and cleavage/formation of C-S bond: a novel synthesis of aryl methyl sulfones from aryl halides and DMSO.

With atmospheric oxygen as the oxidant, a novel copper(I)-catalyzed synthesis of aryl methyl sulfones from aryl halides and widely available DMSO is described. The procedure tolerates aryl halides with various functional groups (such as methoxy, acetyl, chloro, fluoro and nitro groups), which could afford aryl methyl sulfones in moderate to high yields. The copper-catalyzed aerobic oxidation and the cleavage/formation of C-S bond are the key steps for this transformation.