Oxidative coupling of dichalcogenides with sodium sulfinates via copper-catalyzed cleavage of S-S and Se-Se bonds.

A copper-catalyzed sulfonylation of disulfides was achieved using sodium sulfinates in air. The reaction formed various sulfur-sulfone bonds efficiently and afforded thiosulfonates in good yields. Selenosulfonates could also be prepared with this procedure. Furthermore, both chalcogenide groups on the dichalcogenides were available in these reactions.