An alternative method for forming sulfonates through hypervalent iodine(III) reagent-mediated oxidation of sodium sulfinates has been developed. This transformation involves trapping reactive sulfonium species using alcohols. With additional optimization of the reaction conditions, the method appears extendable to other nucleophiles such as electron-rich aromatic systems or cyclic ethers through a ring opening pathway.
A copper-catalyzed functionalization of inert cyclic ethers was developed to provide α-aminonitriles via a cascade oxidation/amination/ring-opening/cyanation reaction.