A metal-free, environmentally benign oxidation of substituted sulfides directly to their corresponding sulfones is described. Using urea-hydrogen peroxide and phthalic anhydride in ethyl acetate clean conversion into the sulfone was achieved without observation of the possible sulfoxide oxidation product.
Oxidative Cleavage of Indoles Mediated by Urea Hydrogen Peroxide or H2O2 in Polar Solvents