Thiol-Ene Click Reaction Triggered by Neutral Ionic Liquid: The Ambiphilic Character of [hmim]Br in the Regioselective Nucleophilic Hydrothiolation

Thiol-ene click chemistry has emerged as a powerful strategy to construct carbon-heteroatom (C-S) bonds, which generally results in the formation of two regioisomers. To this end, the neutral ionic liquid [hmim]Br has been explored as a solvent cum catalyst for the synthesis of linear thioethers from activated and inactivated styrene derivatives or secondary benzyl alcohols and thiols without the requirement of using a metal complex, base, or free radical initiator. Furthermore, detailed mechanistic investigations using H-1 NMR spectroscopy and quadrupole time-of-flight electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (Q-TOF ESI-MS) revealed that the ambiphilic character of the ionic liquid promotes the nucleophilic addition of thiol to styrene through an anti-Markovnikov pathway. The catalyst recyclability and the extension of the methodology for thiol-yne click chemistry are additional benefits. A competitive study among thiophenol, styrene, and phenyl acetylene revealed that the rate of reaction is in the order of thiol-yne > thiol-ene > dimerization of thiol in [hmim]Br.