Enantioselective and Regiodivergent Skeletal Transformations of 1,2,3-Thiadiazoles to Alkylidene Dihydrothiophenes

By leveraging the Rh-catalyzed asymmetric skeletal editing of 1,2,3-thiadiazoles, we successfully achieve the ligand-controlled enantioselective and regiodivergent synthesis of structurally diverse 2- and 3-alkylidene 2,3-dihydrothiophenes. Late-stage structural editing of complex natural and drug molecules is also enabled.

Fully Substituted Thiophene Synthesis via (3 + 2) with Thiadiazoles

A method to access highly substituted dihydrothiophenes and the corresponding thiophenes is reported. This strategy complements traditional stepwise synthesis by coupling readily accessible bicyclic 1,2,3 thiadiazoles with alkenes in a modular, Rh-catalyzed formal (3 + 2) cycloaddition. Application of this method to an array of novel thiadiazoles generates densely functionalized dihydrothiophenes that can be subsequently oxidized to the corresponding thiophene products.

Synthesis of γ-Thiapyrones by Diels-Alder/Retro-Diels-Alder Reaction of α-Pyrones with 5-H-1,2,3-Thiadiazoles

The efficient synthesis of γ-thiapyrones by a base-mediated Diels-Alder/retro-Diels-Alder reaction of α-pyrones with 5-H-1,2,3-thiadiazoles is reported herein. Thioketenes in situ generated from thiadiazoles as electron-poor dienophile and electron-rich 4-hydroxy-2-pyrones as dienes are conjunctively transformed into a series of γ-thiapyrones with broad functional group compatibility in good to excellent yields (35 examples, 67% average yield).

Catalytic Diastereospecific and Enantioselective (3 + 2) Transannulations of 1,2,3-Thiadiazoles with Strained Norbornene Derivatives

With the adoption of a ring-strain-release strategy, iridium-catalyzed transannulations with norbornene derivatives are achieved in a diastereospecific and enantioselective manner. The first asymmetric transannulations of 1,2,3-thiadiazoles are reported.

Catalytic (3 + 2) umpolung annulations of α-thioacyl carbenes with aryl isothiocyanates

As masked S-electrophilic thia-1,3-dipoles, 1,2,3-thiadiazoles undergo denitrogenative (3 + 2) umpolung transannulations with aryl isothiocyanates, regio- and stereoselectively.

Sulfur-controlled and rhodium-catalyzed formal (3 + 3) transannulation of thioacyl carbenes with alk-2-enals and mechanistic insights

A rhodium-catalyzed denitrogenative formal (3 + 3) transannulation of 1,2,3-thiadiazoles with alk-2-enals is achieved, producing 2,3-dihydrothiopyran-4-ones in moderate to excellent yields. An inverse KIE of 0.49 is obtained, suggesting the reversibility of the oxidative addition of thioacyl Rh(i) carbenes to alk-2-enals. The late-stage structural modifications of steroid compounds are realized. Moreover, our studies show that thioacyl carbenes have different reactivities to those of α-oxo and α-imino carbenes, and highlight the importance of heteroatoms in deciding the reactivities of heterovinyl carbenes.

Visible-light photocatalytic preparation of alkenyl thioethers from 1,2,3-thiadiazoles and Hantzsch esters: synthetic and mechanistic investigations

A visible-light-promoted S-alkylation of 1,2,3-thiadiazoles with C-radical precursors, 4-alkyl-1,4-dihydropyridines (DHPs), to produce alkenyl thioethers is disclosed.

Theoretical study of the NHC-catalyzed C–S bond cleavage and reconstruction reaction: mechanism, stereoselectivity, and role of catalysts

The mechanism of the NHC-catalyzed C–S bond activation reaction has been theoretically studied and ELF analysis along with IRC results shows that the NHC promotes the cleavage of the C–S bond via an SN2 process.

Dual roles of bisphosphines and epoxides: Rh-catalyzed highly chemoselective and diastereoselective (3 + 2) transannulations of 1,2,3-thiadiazoles with cyanoepoxides

Dual roles of bisphosphines and epoxides are demonstrated in highly chemoselective and diastereoselective (3 + 2) transannulations.