Visible-light-mediated sulfonylation of anilines with sulfonyl fluorides

Xin-Qing Li; Qian-Qian Liao; Jun Lai; Yuan-Yue Liao

doi:10.3389/fchem.2023.1267223

Visible-light-mediated sulfonylation of anilines with sulfonyl fluorides

Front Chem. 2023 Aug 25:11:1267223. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2023.1267223. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Xin-Qing Li¹, Qian-Qian Liao², Jun Lai¹, Yuan-Yue Liao¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacy, Ganzhou People's Hospital, The Affiliated Ganzhou Hospital of Nanchang University, Ganzhou, China.
² Department of Pharmacy, People's Hospital of Guilin, Guilin, China.

Abstract

Sulfonylaniline motif plays an important role in pharmaceutical sciences. Developed methods towards this structure are typically lack of good modifiability and stability. In this study, visible-light-mediated sulfonylation of aniline using sulfonyl fluoride as a modifiable and stable sulfonylation reagent is described. A variety of substituted sulfonylanilines were synthesized under mild reaction conditions with moderate to good efficiency. The example of late-stage sulfonylation highlighted the advantage of using sulfonyl fluoride as a sulfonylation reagent. In addition, the crucial influence of counterions on the photocatalyst observed in this system would inspire further research on the photochemistry of sulfonyl fluoride.

Keywords: aniline; photoredox; radical; sulfonyl fluoride; sulfonylation.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The authors are grateful for the financial support by the Science and Technology Program of Ganzhou (2022-YB1422).