Sulfonyl group
Appearance
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/Sulfone.png/150px-Sulfone.png)
A sulfonyl group can refer either to a functional group found primarily in sulfones or to a substituent obtained from a sulfonic acid by the removal of the hydroxyl group similarly to acyl groups. Sulfonyl groups can be written as having the general formula R−S(=O)2−R′, where there are two double bonds between the sulfur and oxygen.
Sulfonyl groups can be reduced to the hydrocarbon with lithium aluminium hydride (LiAlH4).
In inorganic chemistry, when the group −S(=O)2− is not connected to any carbon atoms, it is referred to as sulfuryl.
Examples of sulfonyl group substituents
The names of sulfonyl groups typically end in -syl, such as:
Group name Full name Pseudoelement symbol Example Tosyl p-toluenesulfonyl Ts Tosyl chloride (p-toluenesulfonyl chloride)
CH3C6H4SO2ClBrosyl p-bromobenzenesulfonyl Bs Nosyl o- or p-nitrobenzenesulfonyl Ns Mesyl methanesulfonyl Ms Mesyl chloride (methanesulfonyl chloride)
CH3SO2ClTriflyl trifluoromethanesulfonyl Tf Tresyl 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl-1-sulfonyl Dansyl 5-(dimethylamino)naphthalene-1-sulfonyl Ds Dansyl chloride