A highly efficient heterogeneous rhodium(I)-catalyzed C–S coupling reaction of thiols with polychloroalkanes or alkyl halides under mild conditions

Heterogeneous C–S coupling reaction of thiols with polychloroalkanes or alkyl halides was achieved at 30 or 80 °C in the presence of 5 mol% of an MCM-41-immobilized bidentate phosphine rhodium complex (MCM-41-2P-RhCl(PPh3)) and triethylamine, yielding a variety of formaldehyde dithioacetals, ethylenedithioethers and unsymmetric thioethers in good to excellent yields. This heterogeneous rhodium catalyst can be easily recovered and recycled by simple filtration of the reaction solution and used for at least 10 consecutive trials without significant loss of activity. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.