Rapid palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling in the synthesis of aryl thioethers under microwave conditions

A Pd-catalyzed coupling of aromatic iodides or bromides and tin-thiolates under microwave conditions was developed to synthesize aromatic thioethers without concomitant formation of the reduced products. Ligand screening revealed DiPPF and BINAP-Tol as the most generally useful ligands for this transformation. A variety of iodides or bromides were coupled to give the thioethers rapidly (10 min) in 60-95% isolated yield.