Copper-catalyzed ortho-selective direct sulfenylation of N-aryl-7-azaindoles with disulfides

Org Biomol Chem. 2021 Apr 7;19(13):2901-2906. doi: 10.1039/d1ob00106j. Epub 2021 Mar 16.

Abstract

A copper-catalyzed direct C-H chalcogenation of N-aryl-azaindoles with disulfides is described. This transformation was performed using Earth abundant Cu(OAc)2 as a catalyst, benzoic acid as an additive, air as a terminal oxidant, and readily available diaryl and dialkyldisulfides (or diselenide) as chalcogenation reagents. High functional group tolerance and excellent regioselectivity are demonstrated by the efficient preparation of a wide range of ortho-sulfenylation-7-azaindoles.