Desulfurization of Diaryl(heteroaryl) Sulfoxides with Benzyne

Two benzyne-enabled desulfurization reactions have been demonstrated which convert diaryl sulfoxides and heteroaryl sulfoxides to biaryls and desulfurized heteroarenes, respectively. The reaction accessing biaryls tolerates a variety of functional groups, such as halides, pseudohalides, and carbonyls. Mechanistic studies reveal that both reactions proceed via a common assembly process but divergent disassemblies of the generated tetraaryl(heteroaryl) sulfuranes.