Deep Eutectic Solvent: An Efficient and Recyclable Catalyst for Synthesis of Thioethers

An efficient nucleophilic aromatic substitution (SNAr) reaction for C-S bond formation using greener and reusable deep eutectic solvent (DES) has been described. A variety of thioethers are synthesized in impressive yields (88-98%) by reacting various electron-deficient aryl/alkyl halides and thiols. This protocol is valid to aryl halides with diverse functional groups such as aldehydes, carboxylic acids, nitro and nitrile groups. The attractive features of this approach includes metal/ligand free conditions, absence of organic solvents, short reaction time, easy isolation of products and simple work up procedure. This effective catalytic system is economically viable, environmentally benign and recyclable up to four cycles without significant loss in activity.