Facile carbon–sulfur bond cleavage in diarylsulfonium ylides: a catalytic sulfur-to-silicon group transfer

Abstract

An unusual cleavage of the non-ylidic carbon–sulfur bond of a sulfonium ylide is reported. The reaction can be catalysed by a variety of palladium(II) complexes under mild conditions. Preliminary results show that coordination of the ylide to the metal center results in significant structural changes.