Palladium-Catalyzed Thiocarbonylative Synthesis of α,β-Unsaturated Thioesters Using S-Aryl Thioformates as the Thioester Sources

A palladium-catalyzed thiocarbonylation reaction forthe synthesis of alpha,beta-unsaturated thioesters from vinyltriflates with S-aryl thioformates as the thioestersources has been developed. The reaction proceeded smoothly at lowtemperature, and a variety of alpha,beta-unsaturated thioesterswere produced in moderate to high yields with very good functionalgroup tolerance. This protocol features mild reaction conditions,good substrate scope, and avoids the use of toxic CO gas or odorousthiols, which made it a worthy addition to alpha,beta-unsaturatedthioester synthesis via a thioester transfer process.