An efficient and straightforward approach for accessing thionoesters via palladium-catalyzed C-N cleavage of thioamides.

We report for the first time the coupling of activated thioamides with alcohols to efficiently form thionoesters via a palladium-catalyzed C-N cleavage strategy. The new approach employs thioamides as a thioacylating reagent to give thionoesters in moderate to good yields. Notably, this methodology demonstrates a broad substrate scope, as alkyl/aryl alcohols are well tolerated, and this process might facilitate the synthesis of sulfur-containing compounds under simple and mild conditions.