Photoinduced Deoxygenation Reduction of Sulfoxides with HCl or HBr and Hydrocarbons

The deoxygenative reduction of sulfoxides to thioethers represents one of the most important transformations in organic synthesis, garnering significant attention in both academic research and industrial applications. Herein, we report a photoinduced deoxygenative reduction of sulfoxides using inexpensive hydrocarbon species and HX (X = Cl, Br) as combined reductants, which proceeds under mild conditions without the photocatalysts and metals. Mechanistically, this transformation is enabled by a proton-coupled electron transfer process between the S^IV═O group and HX. This protocol exhibits a broad substrate scope, excellent functional group tolerance, and operational simplicity.