Title:A Review on Sulfur-Directed C−H Bond Activation
Volume: 18
Issue: 7
Author(s): Xuchong Tang and Yingwei Zhao*
Affiliation:
- College of Chemical Engineering, Huaqiao University, 668 Jimei Blvd, Xiamen 361021,China
Keywords:
C−H activation, directing group, sulfur, thioether, disulfide, sulfoxide, thiocarbonyl.
Abstract: Transition-metal-catalyzed C−H bond activation employing a directing group has been
shown to be a powerful tool to access C−C or C−hetero bond formation. Oxygen and nitrogen atoms
are commonly applied as the electron donor for these directing groups. In contrast, there are only a
few studies on sulfur-containing groups, probably due to their toxicity to transition-metal catalysts.
Nowadays, a large amount of C−H activation reactions directed by sulfur-containing auxiliary groups
have been successfully achieved. As these groups can be facilely removed or modified in situ or in
further steps, they are of great value in creative synthetic strategies. This paper reviews recent advances
in the studies using thioether, thiol/thiophenol/disulfide, sulfoxide, and thiocarbonyl as directing
groups for intermolecular C−H functionalizations as well as intramolecular oxidative annulations.
