KO-t-Bu Catalyzed Thiolation of β-(Hetero)arylethyl Ethers via MeOH Elimination/hydrothiolation

Herein, we describe a KO-t-Bu catalyzed thiolation of beta-(hetero)arylethyl ethers through MeOH elimination to form (hetero)arylalkenes followed by anti-Markovnikov hydrothiolation to afford linear thioethers. The system works well with a variety of beta-(hetero)arylethyl ethers, including electron-deficient, electron-neutral, electron-rich, and branched substrates and a range of aliphatic and aromatic thiols.

Automated summary

The KO-t-Bu catalyzed thiolation reaction described here is effective for synthesizing various thioether compounds, including a variety of substrates and thiols.