SO2F2-Mediated Epoxidation of Olefins with Hydrogen Peroxide.

An inexpensive, mild, and highly efficient epoxidation protocol has been developed involving bubbling SO2F2 gas into a solution of olefin, 30% aqueous hydrogen peroxide, and 4 N aqueous potassium carbonate in 1,4-dioxane at room temperature for 1 h with the formation of the corresponding epoxides in good to excellent yields. The novel SO2F2/H2O2/K2CO3 epoxidizing system is suitable to a variety of olefinic substrates including electron-rich and electron-deficient ones.