Abstract
Aryl thioethers are tremendously important motifs in various facets of chemical science. Traditional technologies for the precise assembly of aryl thioethers rely on transition-metal-catalyzed cross-coupling of aryl halides; however, despite the continuous advances, the scope of these methods remains limited. Recently a series of reports has advanced an alternative manifold in which thio(esters) are subject to transition-metal-catalyzed decarbonylation, which (1) permits to exploit ubiquitous carboxylic acids as highly desirable and orthogonal precursors to aryl halides; (2) overcomes the issues of high concentration of thiolate anion leading to catalyst poisoning; (3) enables for novel disconnections not easily available from aryl halides; and (4) introduces new concepts in catalysis.