Synthesis of Thioxanthone 10,10-Dioxides and Sulfone-Fluoresceins via Pd-Catalyzed Sulfonylative Homocoupling

Org Lett. 2024 Feb 2;26(4):945-949. doi: 10.1021/acs.orglett.3c04300. Epub 2024 Jan 18.

Abstract

Our report describes the facile and scalable preparation of 9H-thioxanthen-9-one 10,10-dioxides via Pd-catalyzed sulfonylative homocoupling of the appropriately substituted benzophenones. This transformation provides a straightforward route to previously unreported sulfone-fluoresceins and -fluorones. Several examples of these red fluorescent dyes have been prepared, characterized, and evaluated as live-cell permeant labels compatible with super-resolution fluorescence microscopy with 775 nm stimulated emission depletion.