An iron-catalyzed C-S bond-forming reaction of carboxylic acids and hydrocarbons via photo-induced ligand to metal charge transfer

Sulfur-containing compounds are commonly present in both natural and synthetic bioactive molecules. The ability to construct C-S bonds using inexpensive and easily accessible raw materials under mild conditions is an area of significant interest in organic synthesis. In this study, we introduce a novel photo-induced iron-catalyzed strategy that facilitates the transformation of alkyl and heteroaryl carboxylic acids into their respective thioether products. Furthermore, our method also enables the site-selective synthesis of thioethers and sulfoxides from unreactive hydrocarbons under a reaction atmosphere of N₂ or air. This procedure is operationally simple and readily scalable and provides access to high-value sulfur-containing compounds from simple raw materials in one step.