Green oxidation of sulfide to sulfoxide and sulfone

Organic sulfoxides and sulfones are important compounds that widely exist in natural products, pharmaceuticals, and flavors. This chapter highlights the necessity for sulfonization and sulfidation, especially with green and mild procedures. Aiming to decrease energy consumption in chemical transformations, visible-catalyzed systems were developed for realizing water splitting, CO2 reduction, and multifarious organic transformations. In addition to homogeneous systems, the heterogeneous ones could also be used to realize the selective oxygenation of sulfide. Chiral sulfoxides are important motifs of pharmaceuticals and ligands. In addition, extensive usage of asymmetrical organic sulfoxides as chiral auxiliaries and intermediates is developed. The demand for ligand developments and active compounds applications promoted the flourish of enantioselective sulfoxidation, especially in catalytic ways. Sulfones are an important class of organic molecules due to their prominent biological activities and their wide chemical and physical applications.