A New Class of Organocatalysts: Sulfenate Anions

Abstract Sulfenate anions are known to act as highly reactive species in the organic arena. Now they premiere as organocatalysts. Proof of concept is offered by the sulfoxide/sulfenate‐catalyzed (1–10 mol %) coupling of benzyl halides in the presence of base to generate trans‐stilbenes in good to excellent yields (up to 99 %). Mechanistic studies support the intermediacy of sulfenate anions, and the deprotonated sulfoxide was determined to be the resting state of the catalyst.