Direct sulfonylation of anilines mediated by visible lightElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c7sc03891g

Sulfones feature prominently in biologically active molecules and are key functional groups for organic synthesis. We report a mild, photoredox-catalyzed reaction for sulfonylation of aniline derivatives with sulfinate salts, and demonstrate the utility of the method by the late-stage functionalization of drugs. Key features of the method are the straightforward generation of sulfonyl radicals from bench-stable sulfinate salts and the use of simple aniline derivatives as convenient readily available coupling partners. Visible light photocatalysis allows the introduction of the sulfone functional group to anilines under mild reaction conditions, without the need for pre-functionalization.