Nickel-Catalyzed Carbonylative Synthesis of α,β-Unsaturated Thioesters from Vinyl Triflates and Arylsulfonyl Chlorides.

A straightforward and efficient synthesis of α,β-unsaturated thioesters has been developed via a nickel-catalyzed thiocarbonylation reaction of vinyl triflates with arylsulfonyl chlorides. With Mo(CO) 6 as both CO source and reductant, a variety of α,β-unsaturated thioesters were obtained in moderate to good yields with very good functional group compatibility. It is noteworthy that the present method is the first example on nickel-catalyzed carbonylative synthesis of α,β-unsaturated thioesters by using arylsulfonyl chlorides as the coupling partner.