Highly Efficient Biomimetic Oxidation of Sulfide to Sulfone by Hydrogen Peroxide in the Presence of Manganesemeso-Tetraphenylporphyrin

Low amount of manganese meso-tetraphenyl porphyrin [Mn(TPP)] was used for highly efficient selective oxidation of sulfide to sulfone by hydrogen peroxide at room temperature. Sulfones were produced directly with yields generally around 90% while the catalyst concentration was only 4×10−5 mol·L−1. In a large-scale experiment of thioanisole oxidation, the isolated yield of sulfone (87%) was obtained and the turnover number (TON) reached up to 8×106, which is the highest TON for the oxidation systems of sulfide to sulfone catalyzed by metalloporphyrins.