Light-Driven Dehydrogenative Construction of Thioester Linkages from Thiols and Aldehydes

Thioesters are bench-stable yet reactive acyl donors, playing an indispensable role in biological systems, pharmaceuticals, and organic synthesis. Whereas various synthetic methods for thioesters are currently available, the development of straightforward synthetic methods starting from common functionalities is needed to improve the efficiency and broaden the scope of accessible thioesters. Herein, we report a light-driven dehydrogenative coupling reaction of thiols with aldehydes to form thioesters with molecular hydrogen as the byproduct. This reaction exhibits broad functional group tolerance, including bromo, chloro, carboxy, and imide groups.