Photooxidation of Sulfides to Sulfoxides Mediated by Tetra-O-Acetylriboflavin and Visible Light

Abstract

Chemoselective photooxidation: Tetra-O-acetylriboflavin and blue light mediate the selective oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides without overoxidation to sulfones. Reaction is very effective in ethanol/water (95:5,v/v) mixture reaching a quantum yield of Φ=0.60. The photooxidation reaction scope includes aliphatic and aromatic sulfides including sterically hindered substrates.