Hydrogen Peroxide → Methyl phenyl sulfone

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

A complex (4) (1.9 mg, 1 mol %) was weighed out in a Schlenk flask, to which racemic phenylmethylsulfoxide (28 mg, 0.2 mmol) was added. Water (0.5 mL) was added, followed by stirring for 10 minutes at 20° C. A 30% hydrogen peroxide solution (9 μL, 0.4 eq) was added, followed by stirring the resultant mixture for 3 hours at room temperature. To the reaction mixture, water (5 mL) was added, followed by extraction using ethyl acetate. An organic phase was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, followed by filtration and then it was concentrated under reduced pressure. By purifying the concentrate using silica gel column chromatography (ethyl acetate), 6.5 mg (21% yield) of phenylmethylsulfone was obtained, and 22.1 mg of phenylmethylsulfoxide (79%) was recovered. Optical purity was determined to be 12% ee for a S form after measured by HPLC analysis.

Provenance & Evidence