Efficient Synthesis of Benzothiazolone Derivatives by a Domino Reaction of Disulfide and COS under Mild Conditions

Carbonyl sulfide (COS), whose molecular structure is similar to CO2 and CS2, could be used as a better alternative carbonyl reagent due to its high chemical activity. However, the unfriendly by-product H2S would be generated when COS is used as a carbonyl reagent in the carbonylation reaction. In this report, the odorless and stable disulfide was used to replace the traditional foul smelling and unstable o-aminobenzenethiol to react with COS for preparing benzothiazolone derivatives in excellent yield, in which coupling reaction of H2S generation and S-S bond cleavage was firstly designed. Notably, the C=O of COS was converted into benzothiazolone derivatives by carbonylation reaction and the sulfur of COS was transformed into sulfur and sulfide after cleaving the S-S bond by a domino reaction of disulfide and COS under mild conditions. This efficient synthetic methodology provided a promising process for the utilization of COS.