Hematoxylin as a General and Efficient Ligand for the Cu(I)-catalyzed S-arylation of Thiols with Aryl Halides in DMF-H2O

A combination of CuBr and hematoxylin was found to be a mild, efficient and environmentally benign catalyst system for S-arylation of thiols with aryl halides in DMF-H2O. A variety of aryl sulfides are synthesized from moderate to good yields, under relatively mild reaction conditions with good chemoselectivity and functional group tolerance.