Copper‐Catalyzed Aerobic Oxidation of Amines to Benzothiazoles via Cross Coupling of Amines and Arene Thiolation Sequence

A one‐pot three‐component synthesis of benzothiazoles has been developed using the copper‐catalyzed aerobic cross coupling of amines followed by arene thiolation using elemental sulfur. The dual roles of elemental sulfur and CuCl(OH)‐TMEDA in the aerobic amine oxidation and the aniline thiolation enable the facile access to benzothiazole derivatives from readily available starting materials. The operational simplicity of the current promiscuous catalyst system suggests the high synthetic potential in the preparation of heterocyclic compounds.