The modest acidity of carbons adjacent to the sulfonyl group has made sulfones useful for organic synthesis. Upon removal of the sulfonyl group with desulfonylation or reductive elimination, the net result is the formation of a carbon-carbon bond single or double bond between two unfunctionalized carbons, a ubiquitous motif in synthetic targets. In a synthesis of (–)-anthoplalone, Julia olefination was used to establish the (E)-alkene in the target.
Reductive desulfonylation is employed when the establishment of a carbon-carbon single bond is the goal. In a synthesis of (+)-chatancin, alkylation of an α-sulfonyl carbanion followed by desulfonylation established a key allylic carbon-carbon bond.