Skeleton Editing of Benzothiazoles to Spiro[benzothiazole--alkanes] by Carbon-to-Carbon Single-Atom Swapping.

Skeleton editing can be used to precisely replace or rearrange atoms in the core ring structure of complex molecules and is often used to modify heteroaromatic compounds. However, this approach has not been used to modify thiazole rings. We report the direct construction of spiro[benzothiazole--alkanes] through skeleton editing of thiazolium salts by carbon-to-carbon single-atom swapping. Skeleton editing via carbon deletion and insertion has the advantages of high efficiency, high selectivity, simple operation, and one-step, metal-catalyst-free construction of novel spirocyclic products with novel structures.