Alkenyl Thioetherification Enabled by Nickel Catalysis.

This paper describes an efficient strategy to promote alkenyl thioetherifications via the Ni-catalyzed cross-coupling of inactivated or β-aryl-substituted ( E )-alkenyl halides with thio-alcohols/phenols. The present strategy with easy-to-operate reaction conditions represents one of the most effective alkenyl C(sp 2 )-S bond-forming methods via readily accessible nickel catalysis. Notably, the mildly basic conditions employed facilitate access to a broad scope including protected amino acids, saccharides, and heterocycles. Moreover, this work presents its attractive usefulness by the application in late-stage modifications of several structurally complex natural products and pharmaceuticals.