Syntheses of Aryl Thioethers via Aromatic Substitution of Aryl Halides at 0 to 25 °C

In this study, we developed mild conditions for the synthesis of an aryl thioether via aromatic substitution using aryl halides, which is a process that has rarely been studied. Aromatic substrates such as aryl fluorides activated with a halogen substituent are difficult to use for substitution reactions, but by using 18-crown-6-ether as an additive, these were successfully converted to their corresponding thioether products. Under the conditions we established, in addition to a wide variety of thiols, less-toxic and odorless disulfides could be used directly as nucleophiles at 0 to 25 °C.