Abstract Sodium sulfinates, sulfinic acids, sulfonyl chlorides and sulfonyl hydrazides as readily available and efficient sulfonylation reagents have been extensively explored in recent years. Sulfonyl radical can be generated from these sulfonyl reagents via different methods, then the sulfonyl radical could react with various substrates via different pathways to afford the corresponding products. In this review, we will summarize the progress in sulfonylation via radical reaction using sodium sulfinates, sulfinic acids, sulfonyl chlorides and sulfonyl hydrazides in recent three years. In terms of the different sulfonylation reagents, we classify these sulfonylation reactions into four types: 1. Sulfonylation reaction using sodium sulfinates. 2. Sulfonylation reaction using sulfinic acid. 3. Sulfonylation reaction using sulfonyl chlorides. 4. Sulfonylation reaction using sulfonyl hydrazides.