Photoinitiated Thiol-Ene Click Reaction: An Organocatalytic Alternative

The thiol-ene coupling (TEC) reaction has attracted a lot of scientific attention during the last years, particularly in the fields of polymers, materials and more recently in drug design. The combination of organocatalysis and photocatalysis has enabled the development of an efficient synergistic protocol for the addition of various thiols to a plethora of olefins. Utilizing phenylglyoxylic acid as the catalyst-initiator and common household bulbs as the light source, we report an organocatalytic photoinitiated TEC reaction showing exceptional tolerance in the presence of various functionalities, untangling previously unsolved problems.