Sulfones feature heavily in active pharmaceutical ingredients (Figure ), and due to the prevalence of sulfones in pharmaceutical compounds, recent years has seen extensive investigation into their synthesis. Copper and palladium catalysed cross-coupling methods have allowed the introduction of the sulfone motif without relying on preinstalled sulfur moieties. However, these methods rely on the manipulation of a preinstalled functionality, often in the form of an aryl iodide. Strategies that can directly replace C-H bonds with sulfonyl functionality are highly sought after as they allow the generation of sulfones in a step efficient manner and can allow late-stage diversification. In 2015, Shi, and Manolikakes demonstrated copper mediated oxidative ortho-sulfonylation of benzoic acid derived compounds using amide bound directing groups.