Potassium thioacetate

Potassium thioacetate is an organosulfur compound and a salt with the formula CH3COS−K+. This white, water-soluble solid is used as a reagent for preparing thioacetate esters and other derivatives. Potassium thioacetate is an organosulfur compound and a salt with the formula CH3COS−K+. This white, water-soluble solid is used as a reagent for preparing thioacetate esters and other derivatives. Potassium thioacetate, which is commercially available, can be prepared by combining acetyl chloride and potassium hydrogen sulfide: It arises also by the neutralization of thioacetic acid with potassium hydroxide. In a common application, potassium thioacetate is combined with alkylating agents to give thioacetate esters: Hydrolysis of these esters affords thiols: The thioacetate esters can also be cleaved with methanethiol in the presence of stoichiometric base, as illustrated in the preparation of 4-pentyne-1-thiol: