General and practical intramolecular decarbonylative coupling of thioesters via palladium catalysis

Abstract

We report a general and practical palladium-catalyzed intramolecular decarbonylative coupling of thioesters via C–S bond cleavage, decarbonylation and C–S bond reformation. This robust approach shows excellent functional group tolerance and broad substrate scope using a commercially available, cheap, and practical Pd(OAc)₂ catalyst and phosphine ligands. This strategy operates under base-free conditions. The catalytic system represents the simplest method for intramolecular decarbonylation of thioesters by palladium catalysis reported to date. This versatile protocol is readily performed on a gram scale and applied in late-stage drug derivatization.