A green and sustainable method for the oxidation of 1,3-dihydrobenzo[c]thiophenes to sulfones using metalloporphyrin complexes

•A green and sustainable approach for the oxidation of 1,3-dihydrobenzo[c]thiophenes.•Metalloporphyrins and hydrogen peroxide proved to be highly efficient at r.t..•Excellent conversions (99.9%) were observed, affording the corresponding sulfones.•For the iron(III) porphyrin the products precipitate directly in the reaction medium.

Two efficient methods are reported for the oxidation of 1,3-dihydrobenzo[c]thiophenes to sulfones in good to high yields using H2O2 in the presence of catalytic amounts of porphyrin-based catalysts in ethanol or acetonitrile as solvents at room temperature. The presence of electron-donating or electron-withdrawing groups, in the benzene ring of 1,3-dihydrobenzo[c]thiophene, is well tolerated.

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