A novel atom-economic three-component one-pot reaction of a primary amine, an S-alkylisothiouronium salt and a Michael receptor is reported, which affords a guanidinium salt and thioether simultaneously.The guanidine moiety is involved in catalyzing the conjugated Michael addition of the mercaptan. The reaction proceeds under ambient conditions using a non-toxic EtOH-H 2 O mixture as the solvent, and the two products can be very easily purified. Complete atom economy is achieved by fully utilizing the S-alkylisothiouronium salt and converting the previously wasted mercaptan by-product into the valuable thioether.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.