Metal-Free Direct Trifluoromethylthiolation of Aromatic Compounds Using Triptycenyl Sulfide Catalyst

Herein we report an efficient synthetic method for the electrophilic trifluoromethylthiolation of aromatic compounds. The key is to use triptycenyl sulfide (Trip-SMe) and TfOH to enhance the electrophilicity of SCF3 fragment through the formation of sulfonium intermediates. This method enables direct installation of an SCF3 group onto unactivated aromatics at room temperature, adopting a commercially available saccharin-based reagent. Preliminary DFT calculation was carried out to investigate the substitution effect on the catalytic activity.