NBS-mediated synthesis of β-keto sulfones from benzyl alcohols and sodium arenesulfinates

An efficient synthetic route towards the synthesis of β-keto sulfones has been developed from secondary benzyl alcohols using N-bromosuccinimide (NBS). The present protocol utilizes NBS as oxidant as well as brominating agent, readily accessible benzyl alcohols and sodium arenesulfinates as the sulfonylating reagent under mild conditions. The control experiments revealed that the reaction proceeds via oxidation of alcohol to ketone, α-bromination of ketone and nucleophilic substitution by sodium arenesulfinate. Furthermore, the efficiency of the methodology was tested with a gram scale reaction and also shown the synthetic utility.