Dehydroxylative Sulfonylation of Alcohols

Described here is the R3P/ICH2CH2I-promoted dehydroxylative sulfonylation of alcohols with a variety of sulfinates. In contrast to previous dehydroxylative sulfonylation methods, which are usually limited to active alcohols, such as benzyl, allyl, and propargyl alcohols, our protocol can be extended to both active and inactive alcohols (alkyl alcohols). Various sulfonyl groups can be incorporated, such as CF3SO2 and HCF2SO2, which are fluorinated groups of interest in pharmaceutical chemistry and the installation of which has received increasing attention. Notably, all reagents are cheap and widely available, and moderate to high yields were obtained within 15 min of reaction time.