A rhodium(I)-oxygen adduct as a selective catalyst for one-pot sequential alkyne dimerization-hydrothiolation tandem reactions

Abstract

An air-stable rhodium(I)-oxygen adduct featuring a CNC-pincer ligand, based on 1,2,3-triazol-5-ylidenes, catalyzes the homo-dimerization and hydrothiolation of alkynes, affording the gem-enyne and α-vinyl sulfide isomers, respectively, with excellent selectivity. A one-pot stepwise strategy allows the selective catalytic preparation of non-symmetric bis-vinyl sulfides, as well as the alkyne dimerization-hydrothiolation tandem reactions.