Radical-Cascade Avenue to Access 1,2-Dithioles Employing Dithioesters and Edman's Reagent

An operationally simple and efficient domino etiquette has been developed for the facile construction of 1,2-dithioles employing easily accessible dithioesters as a three-atom CCS synthon and aryl isothiocyanates as a two-atom CS unit in the absence of any catalyst and additive at room temperature under open air. The reaction proceeded efficiently affording the desired 1,2-dithioles in good yields having various functional groups of a diverse electronic and steric nature. This approach avoids possible toxicity and tiresome workup conditions and features easy to handle, cheap, and readily accessible reagents, O₂ as a green oxidant, and gram-scale ability. Notably, the final S-S bond formation and cascade ring construction follow a radical pathway, which has been recognized via a radical trapping experiment with BHT during the course of the reaction. Notably, the exocyclic C═N bond at position 3 of 1,2-dithiole possesses Z stereochemistry.