A cascade oxidation/[4 + 1] annulation of sulfonium salts for synthesis of polyfunctional furans: DMSO as one carbon source.

A novel DMSO-involved cascade reaction of stabilized sulfonium salts has been established for direct construction of polyfunctional furans. This one-pot sequential reaction involving in situ generated α-methylene sulfonium salts was followed by [4 + 1] annulation with sulfur ylides. Notably, DMSO plays a very important role in this transformation, not only as a solvent but also as one carbon source.