Sulfones biologically significant reactions

The oxidation of sulfides to sulfones has been the subject of extensive studies, since sulfones are useful synthons for the construction of various chemically and biologically significant moleculesJ Recently, a new catalytic system has been developed by exchanging potassium osmate onto chloride-saturated layered double hydroxides (Figure 9.1), which we have shown to be an efficient catalyst for the direct oxidation of sulfides to sulfones, using molecular oxygen as the stoichiometric oxidant and with delivery of two oxygen atoms simultaneously to the sulfide, reminiscent of olefin dihydroxylation reactions. 

Organic sulfoxides are useful intermediates for the construction of many chemically and biologically significant molecules. Most of the current methods for the oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides " suffer from over-oxidation to sulfones. Even when controlling the reaction temperature, it is difficult to avoid over-oxidation in most of the reported procedures. 

To reach the reductive step of the azo bond cleavage, due to the reaction between reduced electron carriers (flavins or hydroquinones) and azo dyes, either the reduced electron carrier or the azo compound should pass the cell plasma membrane barrier. Highly polar azo dyes, such as sulfonated compounds, cannot pass the plasma membrane barrier, as sulfonic acid substitution of the azo dye structure apparently blocks effective dye permeation [28], The removal of the block to the dye permeation by treatment with toluene of Bacillus cereus cells induced a significant increase of the uptake of sulfonated azo dyes and of their reduction rate [29]. Moreover, cell extracts usually show to be more active in anaerobic reduction of azo dyes than whole cells. Therefore, intracellular reductases activities are not the best way to reach sulfonated azo dyes reduction the biological systems in which the transport of redox mediators or of azo dye through the plasma membrane is not required are preferable to achieve their degradation [13]. 

---