Fries rearrangement of Arylsulfonates and Sulfonanilides under Microwave Irradiation

Fries rearrangements of arylsulfonates and sulfonanilides under microwave irradiation afforded hydroxy and aminoaryl sulfones respectively in very short times and in excellent yields. The conversion showed high selectivity to produce 2- and 4- hydroxyaryl sulfones as the major and minor products respectively from arylsulfonates and 2-aminoaryl sulfones exclusively from aryl sulfonanilides.