Rapid Access to Thiolactone Derivatives through Radical-Mediated Acyl Thiol-Ene and Acyl Thiol-Yne Cyclization.

A new synthetic approach to thiolactones that employs an efficient acyl thiol-ene (ATE) or acyl thiol-yne (ATY) cyclization to convert unsaturated thiocarboxylic acid derivatives into thiolactones under very mild conditions is described. The high overall yields, fast kinetics, high diastereoselectivity, excellent regiocontrol, and broad substrate scope of these reaction processes render this a very useful approach for diversity-oriented synthesis and drug discovery efforts. A detailed computational rationale is provided for the observed regiocontrol.