Nickel‐Catalyzed Reductive Coupling of Carboxylic Acids with Disulfides to Access Thioesters

Abstract A nickel‐catalyzed reductive cross coupling reaction of carboxylic acids with disulfides is described. The readily available and inexpensive carboxylic acid is activated in situ by the formation of a mixed anhydride. The transformation occurs at room temperature with wide functional group tolerance to efficiently generate structurally diverse thioesters. Moreover, the reaction tolerated a broad substrate scope, including sterically hindered of disulfides. Ultimately, this powerful method could be applied to the late‐stage functionalization for the construction of diverse thioesters, affording a convenient and practical tactic to construct carbon‐sulfur bonds.