Sulfur- and Amine- Promoted Multielectron Autoredox Transformation of Nitromethane: Multicomponent Access to Thiourea Derivatives.

Thiourea derivatives are in-demand motifs in organic synthesis, medicinal chemistry and material science, yet redox methods for the synthesis that start from safe, simple, inexpensive and readily available feedstocks are scarce. In this article, we disclose the synthesis of these motifs using elemental sulfur and nitromethane as the starting materials. The method harnesses the multi-electron auto-redox property of nitromethane in the presence of sulfur and amines, delivering thiourea products without any added oxidant or reductant.

Synthesis of Thioureas, Thioamides, and Aza-Heterocycles via Dimethyl-Sulfoxide-Promoted Oxidative Condensation of Sulfur, Malonic Acids, and Amines.

Malonic acid and derivatives have been well-known to undergo monodecarboxylation under relatively mild conditions and have been exclusively used as a C synthon. We report herein their new application as a C synthon via double decarboxylation promoted by sulfur and dimethyl sulfoxide. In the presence of amines as nucleophiles, a wide range of thioureas and thioamides as well as -heterocycles were obtained in good to excellent yields under mild heating conditions.

Fe/S-Catalyzed Redox Condensation of -Nitrophenols with Isothiocyanates to 2-Aminobenzoxazoles.

As frequently encountered byproducts of isocyanate chemistry, hydrogen sulfide and related sulfur containing compounds should be treated in a safe way to lower their adverse health and environmental effects, especially in large scale syntheses. As a proof of concept, we report herein an example of in situ recycling of sulfur byproduct to reductant in the synthesis of bioactive 2-aminobenzoxazoles . Using an Fe/S catalytic system, this heterocyclic scaffold could be obtained from nitrophenols with isothiocyates via direct redox condensation consisting of reduction of the nitro group of by the sulfur moiety of .

Convenient synthesis of α,β-unsaturated γ-butyrolactones and γ-butyrolactams via decarboxylative iodination of paraconic acids and β-carboxyl-γ-butyrolactams using 1,3-diiodo-5,5-dimethylhydantoin.

A convenient synthetic approach to α,β-unsaturated γ-butyrolactones and α,β-unsaturated γ-butyrolactams is developed. The reaction proceeds via decarboxylative iodination of paraconic acids and β-carboxyl-γ-butyrolactams, employing 1,3-diiodo-5,5-dimethylhydantoin (DIH) under irradiation, followed by dehydroiodination of β-iodo-γ-butyrolactones and γ-butyrolactams providing good yields of α,β-unsaturated γ-butyrolactones and γ-butyrolactams, which are synthetically useful building blocks in organic synthesis.