Copper-catalyzed trifluoromethylthiolation of aryl halides with diverse directing groups.

The expansion of cross-coupling components in Cu-catalyzed C-X bond forming reactions have received much attention recently. A novel Cu-catalyzed trifluoromethylthiolation of aryl bromides and iodides with the assistance of versatile directing groups such as pyridyl, methyl ester, amide, imine and oxime was reported. CuBr was used as the catalyst, and 1,10-phenanthroline as the ligand. By changing the solvent from acetonitrile to DMF, the coupling process could even take place at room temperature.