Catalyst-free approach for solvent-dependent selective oxidation of organic sulfides with oxone

Selective oxidation of sulfides was successfully performed by employing oxone (2KHSO5·KHSO4·K2SO4) as oxidant without utilization of any catalyst/additive under mild reaction conditions. Notably, the reaction can be controlled by the chosen solvent. When ethanol was used as the solvent, sulfoxides were obtained in excellent yield; the reaction almost exclusively gave the sulfone in water. Furthermore, this protocol worked well for various sulfides to the corresponding sulfoxides in ethanol or sulfones in water.