A series of γ-sulfone sulfonyl chlorides undergo a novel reduction upon reaction with lithium aluminum hydride to furnish the corresponding ethyl sulfones. The reactions appear to proceed in an SN2 fashion with the chlorosulfonyl moiety functioning as the leaving group. In general sulfonyl chlorides furnish mercaptans as hydride reduction products. A novel two- phase hydrolysis is shown to convert a thiol ester to a symmetric sulfide which involves ...
![{[2-(benzylsulfanyl)ethyl]sulfonyl}benzene Structure](https://image.chemsrc.com/caspic/373/71350-91-9.png)
