A one-step synthesis of fused pentathiepinsElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: characterization of compounds 2–5, 9, and 11. See http://www.rsc.org/suppdata/cc/b2/b203349f/

Treatment of nucleophilic heterocycles like pyrroles and thiophene, and their tetrahydro derivatives, with S2Cl2 and a base in chloroform at room temperature provides a simple one-pot synthesis of heterocyclic fused mono and bis pentathiepins such as 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, and 11.