Iron-Catalyzed S-Arylation of Thiols

Significance

Catalytic S-arylation presents more difficulties than other types of cross-couplings due to the high tendency of thiols to deactivate the catalyst and undergo oxidative dimerization. Thus, the development of a simple, inexpensive and environmentally benign iron-based catalytic system for this process has been highly demanded. The reaction is simple to perform, tolerates various functionalities and can be applied to a number of important heterocycles.