Arylative Desulfonation of Diarylmethyl Phenyl Sulfone with Arenes Catalyzed by Scandium Triflate.

A scandium-triflate-catalyzed arylative desulfonation of diarylmethyl phenyl sulfones with arenes and heteroarenes was established. A variety of both sulfone and arene substrates were reacted to afford symmetric and nonsymmetric triarylmethanes in good yields. Further transformations of the resulting triarylmethanes and application to the concise synthesis of a bactericidal agent analogue were also demonstrated.