Stevens rearrangement of thioethers with arynes: a facile access to multi-substituted β-keto thioethers.

An effective method for the synthesis of multi-substituted β-keto thioethers via Stevens rearrangement of simple β-keto thioethers with arynes has been developed. In these reactions, successive C-S/C-H/C-C bonds were formed in one pot under mild and transition-metal free conditions to afford multi-substituted β-keto thioethers in moderate to good yields.