Recent advances in electrochemical synthesis of sulfur-containing compounds using elemental sulfur, carbon disulfide, and sulfur dioxide.

Sulfur-containing compounds occupy a central position in pharmaceutical chemistry, agrochemical development, and functional materials. Traditional synthetic methods often rely on hazardous reagents, transition-metal catalysts, or stoichiometric oxidants, which are incompatible with the principles of green chemistry. In recent years, electrochemical organic synthesis has emerged as a novel platform for the construction of sulfur-containing compounds, owing to its mild, green, and sustainable characteristics. Elemental sulfur (S8), carbon disulfide (CS2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2) are inexpensive and readily available industrial sulfur feedstocks, and their electrochemical activation and transformation have witnessed substantial progress in recent years. This review summarizes recent advances in the electrochemical construction of sulfur-containing molecules using S8, CS2, and SO2 as sulfur sources, systematically outlining the activation modes, reaction mechanisms, and representative transformations of these different sulfur sources, and provides an outlook on the challenges and future directions in this field.