Boron Lewis Acid-Catalyzed Regioselective Hydrothiolation of Conjugated Dienes with Thiols

A transition-metal-free hydrothiolation of 1,3-dienes for the synthesis of secondary and tertiary allylic sulfides is reported. The boron Lewis acids tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane, B(C6F5)3, and BF3·Et2O are shown to catalyze the regioselective hydrothiolation of a wide range of terminal 1-aryl-1,3-dienes. In the case of internal 1,3-dienes, B(C6F5)3 is by far the better catalyst than BF3·Et2O. The process features mild reaction conditions, broad scope, and low catalyst loading, and it can be scaled up quickly over a short reaction time. The reactions are rate-limited by the 1-aryl-directed protonation of 1,3-dienes with thiol-boron Lewis acid complexes, followed by sulfide anion transfer to the resultant allyl cations, as revealed by high-level DFT calculations.