A metal-free iodine-promoted strategy for the synthesis of C2,C3-bissulfenylated indoles

Abstract

An iodine-mediated synthetic approach has been developed for the synthesis of C2,C3-bissulfenylindoles from C3-phenylthioindoles. The reaction proceeds via C–S bond cleavage of C3-phenylthioindoles to generate aryl hypoiodothioite intermediates, which subsequently react with another C3-phenylthioindole molecule to afford C2,C3-bissulfenylindoles. Furthermore, this methodology exhibits excellent compatibility with a variety of indole substrates, demonstrating broad functional group tolerance.