Synthesis of sulfur-containing aryl and heteroaryl vinyls via Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling for the preparation of SERS-active polymers

The preparation of sulfur-containing aryl and heteroaryl vinyl co-monomers via Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling between the corresponding mercaptomethyl arylboronates and in situ-generated vinyl bromides is described. Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) studies of the target compounds on gold nanoparticles confirmed their potential as spectroscopic tags in the fabrication of SERS-encoded polymers for combinatorial screening and biomedical diagnostics.