Iron-Catalyzed Sulfenylation of Indoles with Disulfides Promoted by a Catalytic Amount of Iodine

Selective sulfenylation of indoles with disulfides using iron(III) fluoride combined with iodine has been developed for the synthesis of sulfenylindoles. In the presence of iron(III) fluoride and iodine, a variety of disulfides underwent the reaction with indoles selectively to afford the corresponding sulfenylindoles in good to excellent yields. Moreover, reactions of indoles with 1,2-diphenyldiselane were also conducted under the same conditions, which smoothly afforded 3-selenylindoles in good yields.