Palladium(0)-catalyzed, copper(I)-mediated coupling of boronic acids with cyclic thioamides. selective carbon-carbon bond formation for the functionalization of heterocycles.

The palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling of cyclic thioamides with arylboronic acids in the presence of stoichiometric amounts of a copper(I) cofactor is described. The desulfitative carbon-carbon cross-coupling protocol is performed under neutral conditions and can be applied to a range of heterocyclic structures with embedded thioamide fragments. Successful carbon-carbon cross-coupling is independent of the ring size, aromaticity/nonaromaticity, the presence of additional heteroatoms, or other functional groups in the starting thioamide structure. Employing controlled microwave irradiation at 100 degrees C, most cross-couplings can be completed within 2 h and proceed in high yields. An advantage of using thioamides as starting materials is the fact that the system can be tuned to an alternative carbon-sulfur cross-coupling pathway by changing to stoichiometric copper(II) under oxidative conditions. Both types of thioamide cross-couplings are orthogonal to the traditional base-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling of aryl halides with boronic acids.