Generation of Organozinc Reagents from Arylsulfonium Salts Using a Nickel Catalyst and Zinc Dust

Readily available aryldimethylsulfonium triflates react with zinc powder under nickel catalysis via the selective cleavage of the sp(2)-hybridized carbon-sulfur bond to produce salt-free arylzinc triflates under mild conditions. This zincation displays superb chemoselectivity and thus represents a protocol that is complementary or orthogonal to existing methods. The generated arylzinc reagents show both high reactivity and chemoselectivity in palladium-catalyzed and copper-mediated cross-coupling reactions.