Research News, Oct 25th, 2011
Synthesis of benzothiophene derivatives from dilithio reagents, sulfur, and electrophiles via electrophilic cyclization
Zitao Wang, Weizhi Geng, Hanliu Wang, Shaoguang Zhang, Wen-Xiong Zhang,
and Zhenfeng Xi*
Tetrahedron Lett. 2011, DOI: 10.1016/j.tetlet.2011.10.098
Benzothiophene derivatives, a class of important compounds in many aspects, were synthesized in high yields from readily available o-(alkynyllithio)aryllithio compounds, sulfur, and two equivalents of acid chlorides or other electrophiles. An acid chloride-induced electrophilic cyclization resulted in the formation of the thiophene ring.