Sulfur-Assisted Five-Cascade Sequential Reactions for the Convenient and Efficient Synthesis of Allyl Thiophen-2-yl Acetates, Propionates, and Ketones.

A sulfur-assisted five-cascade sequential reaction, wherein the in situ-generated allenyl allyl sulfides undergo thio-Claisen rearrangement, intramolecular Michael addition, and 1, 5-proton migration/aromatization to obtain allyl thiophen-2-yl acetates, propionates, and ketones as the final products, was reported. As a result of the ready availability of starting materials and the extremely simple and convenient operation, this type of reaction presented here has potential utility in organic synthesis. Application of this efficient method for the synthesis of potentially pharmaceutical compounds also might be useful for the pharmacists.