Palladium-Catalyzed Thiocarbonylation of Aryl, Vinyl, and Benzyl Bromides

A catalytic protocol for synthesis of thioesters from aryl, vinyl, and benzyl bromides as well as benzyl chlorides was developed using only stoichiometric amounts of carbon monoxide, produced from a solid CO precursor inside a two-chamber system. As a catalytic system, the combination of bis­(benzonitrile) palladium­(II) chloride and Xantphos furnished the highest yields of the desired compounds, along with the weak base, NaOAc, in anisole at 120 °C. The choice of catalytic system as well as solvent turned out to be important in order to ensure a high chemoselectivity in the reaction. Both electron-rich and electron-deficient aryl bromides worked well in this reaction. Addition of 1 equiv of sodium iodide to the reaction improved the chemoselectivity with the electron-deficient aryl bromides. The thiol scope included both aryl and alkyl thiols, including 2-mercaptobenzophenones, whereby a thiocarbonylation followed by a subsequent McMurry coupling yielded differently substituted benzothiophenes. It was demonstrated that the methodology could be applied for ¹³C introduction into the thiophene ring.