Gram-Scale Synthesis of β-Sulfonyl Styrenes

A simple and gram-scale synthesis of β-sulfonyl styrenes has been developed starting from one-pot PPA (polyphosphoric acid)-catalyzed 1,1-diacetoxylation of arylacetaldehydes (ArCH 2 CHO) with acetic anhydride (Ac 2 O) followed by deacetoxylative sulfonylation of the resulting 1,1-diacetate intermediate with sodium sulfinates (RSO 2 Na) in good yields under solvent-free conditions.