Alkylation of magnesium sulfinates: a direct transformation of functionalized aromatic/heteroaromatic halides into sulfones.

[reaction: see text] Sulfinate alkylation is one of the conventional methods for sulfone synthesis. The alkylation of magnesium sulfinates, which are easily accessible via reactions of organomagnesium intermediates with sulfur dioxide, provides a convenient route for sulfone preparation. In this communication, we report a preliminary study of the alkylation of arylmagnesium sulfinates. An application of this reaction to directly transform functionalized aromatic/heteroaromatic halides into sulfones is also described.