Alkylsulfonium salts for the photochemical desulphurizative functionalization of heteroarenes

The development of new versatile alkylation reagents that can be transformed from diverse available chemical raw materials is highly desirable. Here, an efficient, metal-free organic photoredox-catalyzed direct alkylation of heteroarenes via a desulphurization strategy using alkylsulfonium salts as alkylation reagents under mild conditions has been described for the first time. The inexpensive and efficient organic photoredox-catalyzed method offers a new and useful strategy for constructing various biologically interesting heteroarenes in the fields of synthetic and pharmaceutical chemistry, and extends the scope of the still limited sulfonium salt photochemistry.

Automated summary

The paper describes a new, efficient, metal-free organic photoredox-catalyzed direct alkylation method using alkylsulfonium salts as reagents through a desulfurization strategy under mild conditions. This inexpensive and efficient organic photoredox-catalyzed method provides a new and useful strategy for constructing various biologically interesting heteroarenes in synthetic and pharmaceutical chemistry, while expanding the scope of limited sulfonium salt photochemistry.