Sir: During the recent emergence of the aromatic directed metalation strategy in organic synthesis,' a number of sulfur-based directed metalation groups have been studied: S02NR2,2a S02NHR,2b S03R,2C S03Li,2d SR,** SLi.2f The tert-butyl sulfone group, despite its early discovery3 and adequate recognition,la has not received methodological attenti ~ n . ~ ~ ~ We have pursued the early observations of ... (1) (a) Gschwend, HW; Rodriquez, ...